Nation at a Glance — (07/05/19)
News stories from across the nation. Visit www.bworldonline.com (section: The Nation) to read more national and regional news from the Philippines.
Blackwater, San Miguel parade new imports
THE BLACKWATER Elite and San Miguel Beermen will have new imports when they play in the scheduled double-header in the Philippine Basketball Association Commissioner’s Cup today at the Mall of Asia Arena in Pasay City.
Looking to give their respective campaigns a fillip, the Elite (5-3) and Beermen (2-5) have both decided to turn to another direction for reinforcement as they make a push for the next round of the midseason PBA tournament.
Blackwater, loser of its last matches, will have Staphon Blair as import when it collides with the streaking Magnolia Hotshots Pambansang Manok (5-2) in the 4:30 p.m. opener.
Mr. Blair will be the Elite’s third import in the ongoing tournament after Alex Stepheson, who led the team to an impressive 5-1 record before abruptly leaving because of medical condition, and Jameel McKay, who was not able to suit up for Blackwater in an official game as the team deemed him not fit to play in the tournament.
Blackwater played its last two games without an import and slumped to losses that stymied its push to the top.
The latest of its defeats came at the hands of Northport Batang Pier, 127-99, on June 22.
Rookie Ray Parks Jr. led the Elite in said game with 25 points and 11 rebounds with Rabeh Al-Hussaini adding 16 points and Michael DiGregorio, Allein Maliksi and Mac Belo finishing with points apiece.
Sans an import, however, Blackwater lost steam and failed to keep in step with the Batang Pier en route to the loss.
Mr. Blair and the Elite will have their hands full when they collide with the Hotshots, who have won five straight since opening their bid with back-to-back losses.
Meanwhile, San Miguel will debut former National Basketball Association player Chris McCullogh when they take on the NLEX Road Warriors (2-7) in the 7 p.m. main game.
Mr. McCullough, who had NBA stops in Brooklyn and Washington, replaced former best import awardee Charles Rhodes, who only gave the Beermen two victories in seven games in his latest PBA tour duty, prompting the team to replace him lest it see itself miss the playoffs altogether.
San Miguel said replacing Mr. Rhodes was a tough decision but something it felt it needed to do in light of its precarious position at 2-5.
Before being replaced, Mr. Rhodes averaged 26 points and 13 rebounds per game.
GINEBRA 3X3
Meanwhile, Barangay Ginebra San Miguel and PBA legend Robert Jaworski will award the championship trophy and the P250,000 cash prize to the champions of this year’s Ginebra 3×3 Tapang ng Tatluhan basketball tournament on July 7 at the Smart Araneta Coliseum.
The Ginebra 3×3 Tapang ng Tatluhan, now on its fourth year, is the first-of-its kind nationwide grassroots basketball program initiated by Ginebra San Miguel and the PBA to help scout for the best basketball talents around the country.
A total of 16 teams representing Manila, Cebu, Davao, Caloocan, Quezon, Iloilo, Bulacan, Cagayan de Oro, Tarlac, Cavite, Samar, Rizal, Pangasinan, Batangas, Bataan and Pampanga will compete in the National Finals on July 5 at Robinsons Place Manila. The final two teams will move forward to the championship round. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Teener Gauff backs up Venus win to advance in third round
LONDON — American 15-year-old Cori “Coco” Gauff showed her stunning first-round defeat of Venus Williams was no flash in the pan as she outclassed Magdalena Rybarikova 6-3 6-3 to reach the third round of Wimbledon on Wednesday.
Gauff, the youngest player to reach the Wimbledon women’s singles main draw via qualifying and the youngest to win a round since 1991, gave the 30-year-old former semi-finalist a torrid time as her fairy-tale debut continued under the Court One roof.
Gliding effortlessly across the grass she took charge of the match by breaking her 139th-ranked Slovakian’s serve to love in the sixth game and was in control thereafter.
Rybarikova, a semi-finalist in 2017, might have hoped for Gauff’s level to dip but it never looked likely as the teenager remained ice cool and composed to close in on victory.
Sensational as victory over her idol and five-time champion Williams was, the way she backed it up was arguably more impressive as she appeared completely impervious to the hullabaloo she has caused at the All England Club.
In two matches she has made 18 unforced errors and barely put a foot wrong.
“I just still can’t believe she is 15,” American great John McEnroe said in his summary for the BBC.
But even Gauff herself told reporters after the match she was the real deal: “You can kind of fake it till you make it. But I’m not faking it, at least right now.”
Incredibly, this time last week Gauff was preparing for a science exam having jetted into London at short notice after being handed a wildcard for the qualifying event.
After a whirlwind week she now finds herself one win away from becoming the youngest player to reach the fourth round at Wimbledon since Jennifer Capriati, aged 14, in 1990.
After beating Venus, Gauff is already receiving the sort of attention that surrounded Capriati as she burst onto the scene. “I wasn’t expecting any of this. A lot of celebrities were DM’ing, posting me. I’m kind of star struck. It’s been hard to reset,” she told reporters.
“There’s so much going on. I’m still shocked that I’m even here,” world number 313 Gauff said after coming off court and being initially told by the reporter she was next to face Caroline Wozniacki when it is actually Slovenian Polona Hercog who beat another former American prodigy Madison Keys.
“KEEP IT SIMPLE”
The way she has taken to the world’s biggest tennis stage suggests she might be here a while longer yet.
“This is not the first time she has had to deal with pressure, but she surprises me with some of the fight she comes up with,” Gauff’s father, and coach, Corey told Reuters.
“My words too her today were just keep it simple and make sure you hit the ball hard, and hit it in the corners.”
It took her no time at all to carry out those instructions, ripping a crosscourt backhand winner as she held serve.
Another graceful backhand sealed her next service game and in the she raced forward to an attempted drop shot to whip an angled forehand on to the line — offering a Serena Williams-like “c’mon!!” in response.
Rybarikova, who has dropped to 139th in the rankings, was already beginning to feel the pace and in the sixth game Gauff turned up the dial her groundstrokes to secure the first break.
Serving for the set Gauff crunched two backhand winners on her way to holding to love.
Gauff broke early in the second set and although Rybarikova tried every spin in her armoury to try and break the youngster’s rhythm, resistance proved futile.
Asked what advice she had been given by her parents Corey and Candi, who cheered each winner from the players’ box, she said it was simple.
“They just told me, you have another match. The tournament’s not over,” she said. “My goal is to win it.” — Reuters
Gilas Pilipinas Youth bows to Serbia, drops to classification round
GILAS PILIPINAS Youth is now out of the running in the FIBA Under-19 Basketball World Cup in Greece after bowing to world number four Serbia, 87-60, in the round of 16 early Thursday morning (Manila time).
Met one of the top teams in the world after finishing the group phase winless, the undermanned Gilas Youth struggled against the Serbians en route to dropping its fourth straight defeat and being relegated to the classification round of the prestigious tournament.
The Philippines competed early but was overwhelmed by Serbia as the proceedings moved along.
It fell behind, 19-14, at the end of the opening quarter before seeing the Serbians crank things up and put the match away.
Marko Pecarski led the Serbians with 21 points and six rebounds, followed by Filip Petrusev with 17 markers.
Dalibor Ilic had a double-double of 13 points and 10 rebounds, He also had six assists.
For the Philippines, it was Dave Ildefonso who showed the way with 18 points albeit he committed seven turnovers.
Kai Sotto had 13 points and eight rebounds while Gerry Abadiano finished with 12 markers.
In the classification round for places ninth to 16th, the Philippines will first meet Australia, which lost to Lithuania, 91-74, in the round of 16.
Their match happens today at Heraklion at 9:30 p.m., Manila time. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
San Beda vs Arellano in NCAA Season 95 opening
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE 95th season of the National Collegiate Athletic Association fires off on Sunday, July 7, with four peat-seeking San Beda Red Lions kicking off their bid against hosts Arellano University Chiefs.
Set for 4 p.m. at the Mall of Asia Arena, the San Beda-Arellano collision comes after the opening game between the Lyceum of the Philippines University Pirates and Colegio de San Juan de Letran Knights at 2 p.m.
Before the games will be the opening ceremonies which will feature Filipino rock icon Bamboo and NCAA Battle of the Bands winners.
The Lions will try to go for their fourth straight NCAA title sans now-pros Robert Bolick and Javee Mocon.
Boyet Fernandez-coached San Beda will now be banking on a roster boasting of a mixed of veteran and young talents.
The young backcourt of James Kwekuteye and Evan Nelle will join a crew that includes AC Soberano, Franz Abuda, Donald Tankoua and Arnaud Noah.
Champions in the last three years, the Lions know they have a target on their back and acknowledge that going for another title will once again be a tough one.
Nonetheless they are determined to take on all comers and defend the NCAA title.
“All of the teams have improved for this season and they will be handled by good coaches. But we will do our best to defend the title and repeat as champions,” said Mr. Fernandez in the press conference for Season 95 early this week.
On the part of Arellano, which is now being coached by Cholo Martin, it is out to build on the gains it had in the previous seasons with erstwhile coach Jerry Codiñera at the helm.
Guard Kent Salado is back in the Chiefs’ roster after spending time out injured. Apart from him Arellano has Rence Alcoriza, Raymart Sablan and 6’7” center Justin Arana, among others.
Meanwhile, twice runner-up Lyceum begins life without most valuable player CJ Perez when NCAA Season 95 rolls off.
The Pirates have expressed readiness and excitement to get things going, beginning with the Knights.
“Letran has a rich tradition of winning championships, being in the finals, and in the Final Four so it’s an opportunity for our team to also grow playing against the top teams in the NCAA. We’re excited for our opportunity,” said Lyceum coach Topex Robinson, whose team still has Jaycee and Jayvee Marcelino and Mike Nzeusseu around from their runner-up finishes.
Letran, for its part, has a new coach in Bonnie Tan and will be anchored by towers Jeo Ambohot and Larry Muyang.
NCAA Season 95 will have a general theme of “Kaisa sa Pagkakaiba,” in line with its push to promote togetherness in the middle of what is expected to be another competitive thrust from the 10 member schools.
The NCAA Season 95 opening will be broadcast live starting at 11:30 a.m. on ABS-CBN S+A on TV and online via iWant.
The games can also be seen over S+A HD, LIGA, LIGA HD as well as streaming over TFC.tv and sports.abs-cbn.com.
PFL: Ceres-Negros defeats Green Archers in fire-fight
DEFENDING Philippines Football League champion Ceres-Negros FC made it back-to-back wins since returning to league action after its AFC Cup campaign, beating Green Archers United FC, 4-3, in a fire-fight at the Philippine Football Federation National Training Center in Carmona, Cavite, on Wednesday.
Faced a determined GAU side, the “Busmen” held steady and strong throughout the contest to survive the challenge and improve their record to 4-1-0 and 13 points, currently good for second place in the ongoing tournament.
The win was in follow-up to their 4-0 victory over Mendiola FC 1991 on Saturday where they made a successful return to the PFL after their AFC Cup bid came to an end with a semifinal defeat in the ASEAN Zonals.
Ceres started strong against GAU, scoring consecutive times in the fifth and sixth minute care of OJ Porteria and Stephan Schrock, respectively.
Jimuel Ariola managed to cut GAU’s deficit to half, 2-1, in the 11th minute when he found the bottom of the net.
Unfortunately for the team, an own goal from defender John Resty Gumban in the 14th minute gave another two-point cushion for Ceres, 3-1.
The two teams went back-and-forth after before Bienvenido Maranon scored another goal for the Busmen in the 37th minute to make it a 4-1 lead for them.
But Mr. Ariola kept GAU within striking distance just before the halftime break, scoring his second goal in the game in the 39th minute to tow his team to within two points, 4-2.
GAU kept the pressure on Ceres as the second half unfolded as Mr. Ariola once again punched a goal in the 53rd minute to make it a 4-3 game.
They tried to propel their push further the rest of the way but the Green Archers would not be able to do so as Ceres held tight and did what it was suppose to do to survive and book the win.
Kaya FC-Iloilo (5-0-0) continues to lead the PFL tournament with 15 points, followed by Ceres, Stallion Laguna FC (3-2-1) with 11 points and GAU with 10 points from a 3-1-2 card. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Furthering the Japan martial art of kendo in the country
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
COMPARED to other Japanese martial arts, the number of people doing kendo in the Philippines may not be as big, but practitioners of it in the country are undeterred in bringing it to the fore to have more Filipinos appreciate it and, maybe, pick it up.
An offshoot of kenjutsu, or the term use for the different schools of Japanese swordsmanship, kendo, which translates to “way of the sword,” involves two swordsmen squaring off against each other in a simulated battlefield.
In place of actual metal swords, kendo uses bamboo ones known as shinai for striking and protective armor known as bogu.
Kendo has its origin centuries ago but in the 20th century it further evolved and spawn many kendokas (practitioners) not only in Japan but also in other parts of the world.
Here in the Philippines, kendo has been around for a while now and has produced clubs and organizations that practice it.
“Kendo has been in the Philippines for quite a long time now. I heard of stories of Japanese expatriates practicing it in the 1960s. Formally with organizations that people can join in, it started in the mid-‘90s with the Manila Kendo Club then around 2010 we had another club that came out — the IGA Kendo Club — which I’m a part of. Then it spread to Iloilo, Davao, Cebu and Dumaguete. And it’s steadily spreading to other places,” said Kristopher Inting, team manager of the Philippine Kendo Team, in an interview with BusinessWorld during one of their practices.
Mr. Inting highlighted that kendo is a martial art fit for practically everybody who has the “spirit” for it.
“We usually say that when one does kendo you have to have the spirit. You have to have a strong fighting spirit in order to take it up. There are benefits that come from practicing it. You develop discipline, patience and being precise — doing things properly. It develops stamina and makes you physically fit,” he said.
“Anyone from seven to 70 can take it up,” he added.
The usual demographic of people doing kendo in the Philippines, Mr. Inting said, are those in their 20s to 30s, people who have jobs to finance the activity, like buying the needed equipment and gear.
He was quick to point out though that while doing kendo can be expensive, it is an investment all worth it and would last one for a long time.
Mr. Inting shared that the different clubs are trying to make kendo more accessible by providing free lessons as much as they can and making the equipment readily available so people would not have to source them from abroad.
To further hone their skills, kendokas in the country hold annual national tournaments which also serve as venue for selection to the national team.
ASEAN KENDO TOURNAMENT
Next month, the Philippine Kendo Team will compete at the 12th ASEAN Kendo Tournament in Jakarta, Indonesia.
For the competition happening from Aug. 9 to 11, the Philippines will be sending a 25-man team, composed of 14 male kendokas and 11 females.
Mr. Inting said they have been training hard since March, notwithstanding the many challenges, including logistics and financial since the team is practically providing for itself.
He said the team is determined to do better in this edition of the tournament, which takes place every three years, to show the Filipinos can do well in kendo on the international stage.
“Right now I would say [the Philippines is] mid-tier [in the region]. The powerhouses right now are Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand, Vietnam is a dark horse,” Mr. Inting said.
“But we have been constantly improving since 2013 and we are hopeful of breaking through further this year,” he added.
While the local kendo scene is steadily developing, Mr. Inting said more can definitely be done to further it.
Having more local instructors would go a long way, he said, as well as informing more people about it and making it more accessible.
“It is in its developmental stage. Developing more local instructors will be a great help. We have Japanese instructors but they are mostly here for work and teach on the side. If we have local instructors we ensure continuity. We have to figure out a way to make the sport and the equipment accessible, and better get the message across what kendo is all about,” Mr. Inting said.
The Philippine Kendo Team manager went on to encourage people to see for themselves the value of doing kendo by going to the various clubs in the country.
“The great thing about kendo is it is a continuous learning. Once you think you have mastered it, you realize you haven’t,” he added.
Wimbledon ready to roll out green carpet for ‘Serena and Andy’ premier
LONDON — Andy Murray left a string of broken hearts with his decision to hook up with Serena Williams in the mixed doubles at Wimbledon and Victoria Azarenka had a stark message for anyone harbouring hopes of breaking up tennis’ power-couple — “good luck!”
Never before has there been so much buzz about a mixed doubles union — especially since the competition is usually all but ignored until the final weekend of a slam.
But with Williams and Murray holding 26 singles majors between them — including nine at Wimbledon — they are the duo every pair in the mixed doubles field wanted to avoid.
On Wednesday, Alex Guarachi and Andreas Mies were the unlucky ones who drew the short straw for the first round match.
Undoubtedly the Chilean-German duo will have never encountered anything like the attention the clash will receive with the match expected to be played later this week on Centre Court or Court One.
Asked what she thought of the Williams-Murray partnership, Azarenka said: “Good luck to everybody else. It’s going to be a tough, tough, tough one to beat.
“They both take it seriously. But I feel like it’s going to be just a pleasure for people to watch. It’s going to be historic. So I’ll be definitely watching.”
Millions more will tune in too but for some, it will be with a heavy heart that they were not the chosen one.
The coming together of the partnership dubbed in some quarters as “SerAndy” or “AndEna” left Murray’s 84-year-old grandmother Shirley Erskine “disappointed” while Azarenka was even more blunt by declaring she was “pissed.”
Last week Erskine had posed with a tennis racket as she offered her services to her grandson by saying: “Right Andy, if you’re still looking for a mixed doubles partner you’ve got absolutely the right one here, no problem.”
With that dream dashed, Murray’s mother Judy provided an update on Twitter: “Dear Andy, Your gran is so disappointed. But she concedes that Serena may just have the edge on her. Love from Mum x.”
Azarenka had also thought she was in with a shout of partnering Murray since she had gone all the way to the final with his elder brother Jamie last year. — Reuters
POC to hold election on July 28
By Michael Angelo S. Murillo
Senior Reporter
THE scheduled Philippine Olympic Committee election today has been moved to later this month in accordance with the directive of world Olympic bodies.
In a press conference on Thursday at the Golden Bay Restaurant, POC chairman Abraham Tolentino said that the rescheduling of the election was arrived upon after the International Olympic Committee (IOC) and Olympic Council Asia (OCA) instructed the national Olympic body to “follow due process to avoid any further challenges” before holding any election.
The directive was communicated in a two-page letter dated July 2 which was signed by IOC director for Olympic Solidarity and National Olympic Committee (NOC) Relations James Macleod and OCA director-general Hussain al-Musallam.
The IOC and the OCA said the process should start with the POC executive council convening within five days to review the IOC directives.
Then, it should create an independent elections commission before an extraordinary General Assembly is called within 10 days.
Taking cue from it, Mr. Tolentino said the POC Executive Board will meet on July 8 at the POC office in Pasig City then a first extraordinary meeting of the POC general assembly will be held on July 18.
The second extraordinary general assembly to elect new officials will be held on July 28.
Also yesterday, Mr. Tolentino said he will be running for POC president. He, however, declined to name who will be in his slate for the election, saying he would announced it on a later date.
The leadership issue at the POC came about after Ricky Vargas resigned as president on June 18 after just a year and half in office.
POC first vice-president Joey Romasanta assumed the office on the strength of succession. He also later offered to resign.
The POC said despite the leadership issue, preparations for the 30th Southeast Asian Games which the country is hosting later this year are not affected.
Taking NBA hostage
Even in the midst of the frenzied activity that has enveloped social media since the National Basketball Association officially declared open season on free agents over the weekend, the rapid-fire scrambling that occurred stateside on Twitterverse as Kawhi Leonard engaged with the Raptors the other day proved nothing short of remarkable. Across the border, it also made for must-see TV as a Canada-based broadcast network that just so happens to have the same parent company as the franchise wooing the reigning Finals Most Valuable Player saw fit to cover his travel arrangements.
The degree to which CP24 followed Leonard’s every move bordered on the extreme. It aired live footage of the Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment plane touching down at Pearson International Airport, of him and three companions in casual clothing (and sporting New Balance footwear) stepping on the tarmac and into stretch limousines, and of the ride to Hazelton Hotel in downtown Toronto, where the meeting was to take place. All the elaborate measures to keep tabs on him evoked memories of O.J. Simpson’s ride on the Interstate-5 freeway in Southern California 25 years ago, a spectacle viewed by 94 million pairs of eyes (and which so gripped the United States that it actually interrupted the airing of Game Five of the Knicks-Rockets Finals).
Not as many in much-smaller Canada were tuned in to CP24. Nonetheless, citizens — and netizens — were transfixed. Even as the streets to the hotel were lined with civilians eager to show their support for the erstwhile Raptors champion, incessant refreshes on connected devices of fans everywhere else reflected a hunger for news that underscored the importance of the decision he would be making. The fates of three teams, and of still-unsigned free agents, lay in the balance, and the utter absence of any indication as to where he appeared to be leaning served only to further the speculation.
That Leonard’s trek to his meeting was subjected to intense scrutiny ran counter to his specified preference to keep a close lid on negotiations. He warned Raptors, Clippers, and Lakers of the need to go dark so as to provide him with the space he required to make an informed choice. They have, for the most part, complied, an astounding effort in the face of the ease with which advances in technology have allowed particulars of just about anything to flow freely. Still, he couldn’t but have been affected by the outpouring of interest from a nation he just led to the top. How he was affected remains to be seen.
Parenthetically, Leonard has taken flak for supposedly holding the league hostage to his intentions. In truth, he has every right to take his time regardless of the upshot of his deliberate pace. It took eight days before LeBron James announced The Decision in 2010, and 11 days before formalizing a return to the Cavaliers in 2014. The latest has the acknowledged Dynasty Killer making known his plans on Independence Day. Should the so-called Fourth of Kawhi go through, he will have spent the same amount of time Kevin Durant did before making the move to the Warriors in 2016.
In any case, Leonard’s suitors will be prepared. The Raptors, Clippers, and Lakers may well have let other talents sign elsewhere as they continue to wait on his doorstep, but the risk is definitely worth the potential reward. If they luck out, they will find themselves casting moist eyes on the Larry O’Brien Trophy with ample reason. If they don’t, they will have gambled as best they could, anyway. It’s hard to get rings, and hard to get players who can get rings. And whenever there’s an opportunity to do so, caution must be thrown to the wind. The time for celebration, or heartbreak, will come soon enough.
Anthony L. Cuaycong has been writing the Courtside since BusinessWorld introduced a Sports section in 1994. He is a consultant on strategic planning, operations and Human Resources management, corporate communications, and business development.
Meet Noah, your online business’s new best friend
The advent of the online marketplace helped democratize the entrepreneurial landscape. Sellers no longer needed to manage orders and couriers, on top of managing a website to facilitate it all. They just had to register at a plug-and-play platform that handled most of the legwork for them.
But being on these marketplaces has its downside. A single product search yields thousands of results, putting your product right alongside every single one of your competitors, all on an even playing field — brand identity be damned.
And that’s where Josh Supan, CEO of Xpanse Technologies saw an opportunity. Through Xpanse, Supan launched Noah, a purchase aggregator and courier management system that beefs up the back-ends of branded websites with all the conveniences of your favorite online marketplace.
Stepping up the game
When Josh Supan, CEO, first worked as a retail-leasing manager for a mall, his realizations on the limitations of brick-and-mortar led him to pursue e-commerce. But while the digital side of retail was freer in more ways, he noticed that online marketplaces came with their own limitations as well.
So with David Marquez, CTO, and Jeremiah Abalos, Head of Front-end, they developed Noah, a platform that aggregates purchase orders and automatically forwards them to couriers. Previously, sellers had to manually do all of these tasks. And to ensure that the items are well-taken care of, Noah pushes more orders to better-performing couriers, determined by heavy analytics and historical trends.
“Instead of giving couriers all the power, you’re telling them, ‘You guys have to step up before we can give you this many or before we can pass orders through your system,’” Supan said. “They go beyond now: they call, they text, they’re really aggressive when it comes to the last mile part.”
Through this automatic and intelligent courier management, macro brands like Lacoste and The Gap, which previously never sold online, were able to tap into a new market with ease, while micro brands like Instagram sellers are enjoying a staggering 300 percent increase in their number of orders.
And according to Supan, the return-to-seller rate was only 4 percent across the board, a far cry from the 15 to 20 percent industry rate.
Whether in a store or a marketplace
Beyond technical performance, Xpanse also believes that having your own website can help boost marketing effectively. Aside from strengthening your brand, it also pushes your other products to potential customers who may not immediately be aware of all of your offerings.
“If you put your items in a marketplace — let’s say you’re a shirt company — you’re competing already with bigger players. And you won’t be able to cross-sell your items because when [customers] type ‘shirts’, it’s going to be everybody’s shirts, not just yours,” he said.
It’s important to note, however, that Xpanse doesn’t plan on usurping the online marketplace: They want their clients to get their own website to complement their marketplace selling. So while a brand-dot-com does wonders for brand-building, for example, it doesn’t have the same traction that an online marketplace does.
“There are obvious benefits for both, and we never tell our brands to choose one. You need multiple streams of revenue,” said Supan.
Expanding horizons
Regardless of the location, Supan wants to do the “dirty work” for as many businesses as possible so that sellers can focus on the bigger picture.
“If you can have somebody doing your logistics for you, you can do so many other things. You can find better products and suppliers. You can diversify,” he said. “We have clients that didn’t know how to do SEO before, but since they have time, they’re studying [it now]. And they made the business better.”
Aligned with their belief that sellers need an online arm to expand, Xpanse is working on ad words and omnichannel services to help generate more traffic and develop a holistic retail experience for their clients, respectively.
If all goes well, they’ll be able to bring their products to Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia by 2021.
Beyond technical performance, Xpanse also believes that having your own website can help boost marketing effectively. Aside from strengthening your brand, it also pushes your other products to potential customers who may not immediately be aware of all of your offerings.
“If you put your items in a marketplace — let’s say you’re a shirt company — you’re competing already with bigger players. And you won’t be able to cross-sell your items because when [customers] type ‘shirts’, it’s going to be everybody’s shirts, not just yours,” he said.
It’s important to note, however, that Xpanse doesn’t plan on usurping the online marketplace: They want their clients to get their own website to complement their marketplace selling. So while a brand-dot-com does wonders for brand-building, for example, it doesn’t have the same traction that an online marketplace does.
“There are obvious benefits for both, and we never tell our brands to choose one. You need multiple streams of revenue,” said Supan.
Expanding horizons
Regardless of the location, Supan wants to do the “dirty work” for as many businesses as possible so that sellers can focus on the bigger picture.
“If you can have somebody doing your logistics for you, you can do so many other things. You can find better products and suppliers. You can diversify,” he said. “We have clients that didn’t know how to do SEO before, but since they have time, they’re studying [it now]. And they made the business better.”
Aligned with their belief that sellers need an online arm to expand, Xpanse is working on ad words and omnichannel services to help generate more traffic and develop a holistic retail experience for their clients, respectively.
If all goes well, they’ll be able to bring their products to Vietnam, Thailand, and Indonesia by 2021.
New e-commerce platform Qarabao equips small business operators with enterprise-level tools.
For many small business owners, running their business is more than just a source of livelihood. It’s a guarantee of a secure future, the extra income helping them build up their savings. And it’s also a source of hope, a vehicle to move up in life, not just for themselves, but for their community.
But grit and drive won’t get you far without the tools and business savvy to guide it. Various operational problems often cause unnecessary stress and lost profit for micro, small, and medium enterprise (MSME) owners.
Last June 27, Mike Tiongson launched Qarabao, a platform that, like its namesake, was designed to take the burden off of MSME operators.
Big features for small businesses
Two years ago, Mike Tiongson, CEO of Qarabao, was tasked with marketing an e-commerce chatbot towards MSMEs. He found that most MSMEs had little use for a chatbot, but were in dire need of a whole suite of other solutions.
So with Roy Nepomuceno, Chief Operating Officer, and Cookie Enriquez, Product and Business Development Manager, they developed Qarabao, a subscription-based ecommerce platform that provides solutions for everyday problems.
“[In our previous system], we weren’t able to track anymore how many orders there are, we committed to give a customer this product but we don’t have any stock of it left,” said Inah Villanueva, a business owner selling on Qarabao’s platform. “So the reaction of the customer when they find out, of course they’re dismayed… so it’s already lost sales.”
Qarabao’s standard plan offers multiple payment channel options (catering to unbanked customers and those located outside of Metro Manila), order and shipping management, and inventory tracking (which can send notifications for items about to run out of stock).
Other features include a customer relations management system and analytics reporting. “[These] are available in enterprise-level software, and we’re saying that no, even small businesses can make use of these features,” said Tiongson. “And turns out… [our sellers] did enjoy the fact that they had a picture of how [their] business performed’ when they see the reports, charts, and sales.”
Adding quality to life
Riding on the success of their initial offerings, development on additional features is underway for two more plans slated for release in the third quarter of the year.
The Plus plan will include a website, campaign management, and, yes, a chatbot. Upgrading further to the Premium plan gets you a point-of-sale system, essential to managing physical stores.
By empowering MSME owners through their businesses, Qarabao aims to take the weight off of small business owners’ shoulders, allowing them to forget the how’s and focus on the why’s behind their businesses — security and hope for themselves and their communities.
Riding on the success of their initial offerings, development on additional features is underway for two more plans slated for release in the third quarter of the year.
The Plus plan will include a website, campaign management, and, yes, a chatbot. Upgrading further to the Premium plan gets you a point-of-sale system, essential to managing physical stores.
By empowering MSME owners through their businesses, Qarabao aims to take the weight off of small business owners’ shoulders, allowing them to forget the how’s and focus on the why’s behind their businesses — security and hope for themselves and their communities.