Last September 2-3 Cards and Payments Expo and Conference 2015 was held in the SMX Convention in Pasay City. Many attendees interested in e-commerce, especially understanding payment gateways visited the expo. Aside from the attendees and speakers, there were many booths for the expo. Attendees were able to visit and know more about their products.
One of the expo exhibitor is TackThis under Voyager. An interview with Rebecca Ricalde of Voyager Philippines was able to shed light to currrent status of e-commerce in the Philippines. Here is what we have talked about:
What is Takatack?
Takatack is an online discovery platform. It is a hybrid of marketplace where we aggregrate our Tackthis client and also affiliate Lazada, Zalora, Cash Cash Pinoy with it. Automatically if you are a Tackthis concierge client, you will be in Takatack. This is part of the service that Tack this concierge provides.
Basically, the main product is Tack this. This main product is an online store builder but we [Voyager] realize, Tack this was really built to help Filipino entrepreneur. After the online store has been built, part of the hurdle is that the Filipino entrepreneur don’t really know how to use the online store. Thus, a concierge was born. The third part of having a concierge is supported marketing. If you build it, customers will come. In online, it is not easy. You have to build your own marketing. Tack this clients were saying that no one is visiting their site. Tack this helped in marketing then realised part of the service is to help clients in marketing thru Takatack. It is difficult to promote products one by one. Thus, all Tack this clients became a part of Takatack. Takatack is what we really promote. we have different campaigns such as Rainy days, Mother’s day, Christmas… We also have strategic partnership with big institutions for example Smart, PLDT, Sun Group of Companies… We have captured audience as well.
What is Takatack’s main goal?
To make sure that our Tack this clients have a successful e-commerce experience. Our clients are retailers. This is the immediate goal. Then along the way we realise we have Takatack clients who are buyers. It is a discovery platform, you don’t have to go to every site individually. We also want to give a good customer experience to the buyers as well.
What is your foresight to Philippine ecommerce?
I think every Filipino thinks being online is being in social media. My foresight is to transform that. I want to really try for Filipinos to transact and buy things online because it is so convenient. This is also because there are a lot more things that you are able to discover. You don’t have to go thru the hassles of traffic. You are also able to compare prices easily. You do not have to walk from here to there. Transforming Filipino online presence from social media to e-commerce is what I see.
What are the challenges that Takatack holds?
In variety side, you want to offer as many things to customers. Trying to get more people to sell on Tack this is a challenge. A lot of people are hesitant. We know eventually that ecommerce will be a big force. In the US, Walmart is no longer the biggest seller but Amazon is. People, here, don’t wanna be the first mover. They want to see if everyone does it then they will do it. Also, a lot of businesses are growing with their physical store and they feel like they will loose focus if they shift focus immediately.
How will Takatack solve this?
Tackthis concierge wants to bring down the barriers of merchants to sell online. First barrier are getting pictures for their products and they have none of these. Tack this does professional photos and photoshop products so the lighting is consistent. For example, a bag product, you have to take different sides for photos. We take care of that. We also make everything in the store to reflect their brand and character. If it’s hipster, the look and feel is hipster. We help them with store creation. That is their first barrier. We can dress a store if they don’t know how to dress an online store.
Second thing is order management. In a physical store, customers pay then they leave. In an online store, all of these transactions are coming everywhere so we help them in payment transactions, consolidation and logistics. The ineventory is still with merchants but we just have to coordinate shipping. also basic customer service.
Lastly, one of their main concern is how will entrepreneurs market it. That is why we have Takatack. I think our main concern is getting more people to sell. Our solution is to bring down all of client’s hurdles.
Last but not the least, what is Takatack’s game plan?
Bread and butter for Philippine market is the SME. We have over 1 million registered SMEs and they all have legit buisnesses already. We are really targeting.SMEs to go online however way we can. Hopefully our product matches what they are looking for and we try to make it as low cost as possible for them.
