SINGAPORE-BASED e-commerce aggregator and loyalty platform Society Pass, Inc. (SoPa) is pursuing aggressive expansion plans in the Philippines to take advantage of the e-commerce boom.
The Nasdaq-listed company now has an office in Makati City overseen by Country Head Arbie Pagdaganan, SoPa said in an e-mailed statement.
This move comes on the heels of its recent purchase of Pushkart.ph, an online grocery delivery services application, for P50 million.
The company, which also operates in Indonesia and Vietnam, currently has more than 20 employees in the Philippines.
“[We] aim to grow this figure to over 100 by the end of 2022,” it said.
SoPa considers that Philippine market as a “cornerstone” of its acquisition strategy, said Dennis Nguyen, SoPa founder, chairman and chief executive officer.
“I am proud to appoint our vice-president of product design, Arbie Pagdanganan, as our country manager in the Philippines and look forward to her expert leadership in steering our operations to greater heights,” he noted.
“Also, this new office is part of our business strategy during this critical period of economic transformation for the Philippines. As we grow our Philippines business, we are confident that the SoPa ecosystem will nurture and accelerate the growing portfolio of brands.”
According to SoPa, its recently acquired Pushkart.ph now focuses on expanding on-demand grocery shopping services to more consumers and more retailers.
Its new plans for Pushkart.ph include adding more hubs in key cities and regions.
The company also targets to expand Pushkart.ph’s offerings to “more than double” its user base to “over 300,000” and boost application downloads to more than 150,000 this year.
It said local consumers will soon be able to use the Pushkart.ph app across 19 cities in the National Capital Region “with a guaranteed next day delivery service.”
“With increasing urbanization, a growing middle class, and a large and young population, the country’s economic dynamism is rooted in strong consumer demand supported by a vibrant labor market and robust inflow of capital. Philippine’s internet penetration rate reached 74% in 2021 and is expected to climb to 77% by 2025. This steep increase in the internet economy is underpinned by a 132% growth in e-commerce with the industry expected to reach $40 billion in 2025,” SoPa noted. — Arjay L. Balinbin
