Except for a few business giants, practically all or 99.51 percent of the country’s registered businesses are MSMEs, or micro, small and medium enterprises, according to the Department of Trade and Industry. That’s over 900,000 small businesses seeking to get part of the spending budget of the average Filipino consumer.
Fortunately for them, SM, the largest retailer in the Philippines, creates enough elbow room for them to grow and expand by being a supportive partner and marketplace for their goods.
“With 90,000 engaged MSMEs within SM, we’ve transformed the humble shoe store from the 1950s into a marketplace for these enterprises,” says SM Retail Vice President for Corporate Communications Cathy S. Ileto. “The SM Store serves as the marketplace for MSMEs to showcase their products and offerings, while serving as a venue for honing their entrepreneurial skills and growing their business,” she adds.
The retail giant has also become “a catalyst that inspires more businesses to embrace sustainability, one step at a time,” says Ileto during the recently concluded Second Session of the Global Reporting Initiative Conference 2022.
One of SM’s partner MSMEs is Homecare Contractor, Inc., a furniture store owned by Robert Arias, whose dream it was to create high quality furniture that’s proudly Philippine-made. From operating in his in-laws’ backyard in the ’80s, Homecare Contractor is now one of the suppliers of SM Home, truly an “SM Baby,” Arias says proudly.
He recounts that even with a small capital, he managed to invest in additional manpower and facilities for his operations, because of the pro-MSMEs business policies that SM observes – including paying suppliers on time.
“One thing about Shoemart is that it pays well and promptly (napakagaling magbayad.) Nakakatulong ito na madaling mapaikot namin ang pera kaya nakakaipon kami,” says Arias.
Ileto says that while the COVID-19 pandemic brought a lot of changes in how businesses operate, it also led the leading retailer “to think of creative ways to bring our partner MSMEs closer to our consumers through our omni-channel approach. We continued to provide holistic support through marketing advice, financial access, and promotion and advertising support to help these MSMEs thrive. Our omni-channel approach brought our partner enterprises within reach of our consumers.”
To help small ventures grow amidst the threat and challenges of the pandemic, Ileto says that SM launched a series of training where it shared best practices on how MSMEs can shift their business models, and turn deadends into opportunities.
Meanwhile, small online businesses were given support to set up their first physical store in one of the 13 high-traffic SM malls nationwide through SM Supermalls’ Start-up Package. This provides MSMEs access to affordable rental, the free use of kiosks, access to financial assistance through the BDO Network Bank, marketing assistance to give the brand free exposure in SM online assets, and ad spaces inside SM malls, among other perks.
“As we recover from the pandemic, we take our learnings forward by creating a greener future where no one gets left behind,” says Ileto. “We will continue to ensure that the most vulnerable sector in our value chain, our partner MSMEs, would stay strong to ensure SM’s overall resiliency,” she adds.
