From Palengk-e to Online Bazaar: Nakakalocal excites their ‘suki’ with online selling events this coming ‘ber months
You enter the public market in your local town, purse in one hand and a bayong in the other. You smell the mixed scent of freshly-delivered fish, farm-produced crops, and chopped raw meat as your eyes gaze at the sea of buyers and sellers exchanging a diverse array of goods, services, and short conversations.
As you make your way through the crowded yet colorful scene, your attention is caught by your regular meat vendor, who has considered you a suki after years of purchasing from her store. The long relationship you two have formed has got you price deductions, special treatment, and first picks in quality meat products.
After purchasing fresh meat for tonight’s dinner from your suki, you observe your surroundings and see a variety of goods being sold in the midst of the hustle and bustle. From street food to children’s toys to ukay-ukay, market vendors would sell everything profitable to make ends meet so that their families can, too, have food on the table.
Forming these kinds of economic and social interactions and observations is what the culture of the Filipino market, locally known as the palengke, is all about. Creating communities through shared customs and thriving connections in one bustling space inspires Filipinos to strive for the best in themselves and their families.
This is what the PhilStar Media Group aims to replicate in Palengk-e, an upcoming online selling platform under the company’s Nakakalocal project, as they showcase the best and newest local products in the country.
Digitalized culture
The COVID-19 pandemic has coerced entrepreneurs to venture into the digital space to pursue their businesses. Despite opening doors for more aspiring entrepreneurs, the online market has been difficult for buyers to find reliable sellers.
In a physical setting, shoppers bask in the culture of interacting with vendors and other buyers as we stroll through the market and easily determine if the seller is legitimate through conversation. But since we are predominantly in a digital set-up, it is time to adjust.
With Palengk-e, PhilStar Media Group plans to reintroduce a unique Filipino shopping experience unlike any other, continuing the culture found within the confines of the palengke in the digital world while bolstering the patronage of authentic, locally-made Filipino products.
It could be recalled that the palengke is known to many as a purveyor of low-quality products for their affordable price and sources of materials.
Palengk-e aims to counter this perception by redefining the Filipino shopping experience into an undeniably unique encounter for the buyer that will give them the urge to come back after their first time.
An all-out shopping feast
Opening its doors later this year, Palengk-e gives an immediate treat to customers as they are welcomed by the platform’s Fiesta Sa Nayon series, a celebration that will explore different fiesta themes per month coming into Christmas Day.
Each month after the launch, Palengk-e will have activities set for this year for their new groups of suki as they go through this new shopping experience.
Fiesta Sa Nayon kicks in with the pre-holiday shopping vibes as people line up in stores for the Christmas feast. For this fiesta theme, Palengk-e will surely bring the feast to you as you have never experienced before.
The series moves forth with Perya Sa Nayon. Imagine walking in the streets, people decorating their own places with Christmas decorations while playing classic Christmas jingles. Every person you pass thru goes giddy knowing that Christmas is near. You hear laughs, you see smiles, you hear screams of excitement. Just like in a perya where fun ensues, Palengk-e asks you to prepare yourself as a thrilling time awaits you.
Through this, buyers can purchase products from sellers conveniently in the digital space, apart from the regular bazaar where people have to travel to malls or convention centers to purchase products.
After that, Pasko Sa Nayon takes place where everyone gathers around as Christmas Day comes near. Christmas promos, gift items for sale, and a warm atmosphere are up for grabs in the Palengk-e as the spirit of giving and the magic of Filipino Christmas are more alive than ever.
More interactive selling & buying experience with pamine-po! And locally virtual: Online bazaar
The Philippine STAR is also set to enhance the online selling platform’s seller experience with two more platforms, namely Pa-Mine Po! and the Locally Virtual: Online Bazaar.
Live selling has been one of the booming trends during the COVID-19 pandemic. Entrepreneurs showcased their products via live streams on social media, say the words “pa-mine po!” to remind viewers to type the word “mine” in the comments section if they see something they like.
Inspired by this and some of television’s lifestyle shopping channels, Pa-Mine Po! is a 2-hour live selling show that will take place on The Philippine STAR’s social media accounts featuring short interviews from STAR SMEs, whose products will be featured on the show.
Nakakalocal bundles and product offers from the SMEs are up for grabs during the show.
The Locally Virtual: Online Bazaar, on the other hand, is an integration of the Palengk-e and the Pa-Mine Po! platforms. In this online event, buyers and sellers get to experience online shopping and live selling in one space.
This stems from the concept of a “virtual bazaar” wherein various business people get to sell their products and services online in the digital space, with millions of online users getting to see what they have to offer.
Through this, buyers can purchase products from sellers conveniently in the digital space, apart from the regular bazaar where people have to travel to malls or convention centers to purchase products.
Being enacted in an online space, the STAR’s online bazaar is expected to reach thousands of people around the country, as they conveniently get to purchase the local products they want or need wherever and whenever they want with just a click of their phone. Truly, a bustling selling venue for local SMEs out there.
