Government-owned online shop oneSTore.ph has formally signed an memorandum of agreement with the Land Bank of the Philippines for the adoption of a payment solution that will allow consumers to buy local products electronically and at a cheaper price.
Secretary Fortunato dela Pena of the Department of Science and Technology (DOST), which developed and created oneSTore.ph, signed the MOA with new Landbank president and CEO Alex Buenaventura in a ceremony held at the Landbank Plaza in Malate, Manila.
Under the agreement, Landbank will serve the payment solution system of the oneSTore.ph project through its ePayment Portal (ePP), which provides a secure and convenient payment platform while facilitating operational and cost efficiencies for sellers.
Once the Landbank electronic payment solution is put into place, the price of the goods being sold at the online store will also be cheaper by around 10 percent compared to other payment options, officials said.
?Prior to the establishment of oneSTore, the country did not have an e-commerce platform that caters exclusively to quality Filipino products. This is why the government and its agencies have made deliberate and concerted efforts to leverage our MSMEs to a vantage point, where they can be strategic in their chosen venture,? Dela Pe?a said.
On his part, Buenaventura said, ?We are grateful for the opportunity to be part of this breakthrough service which provides an online platform for MSMEs to promote and sell their products to both local and international markets.?
Initiated by former DOST secretary Mario Montejo and developed by DOST Region 2, oneSTore.ph was launched in July 2015 and has already features over 10,000 products. It caters excelusively to DOST-assisted MSMEs (micro, small, and medium enterprises).
Sancho Mabborang, director of DOST Region 2, said in a presentation that the e-commerce has tremendous potential in the Philippines as Filipinos are voracious users of the Internet, particularly social media.
Citing figures from a recent survey, Mabborang said 51 percent of Filipino Internet users have purchased a product online, led by 35 to 44 year-old age group.
Since its launch, Mabborang said oneSTore.ph has added a host of new features such as integrated inventory system, 24/7 customer service, and responsive design for all-screen sizes. It also offers an affordable P150 shipping fee for 3 to 5-kilogram items.
So far, the online shop features 10,151 products and has generated 1,015,900 online sales. It currently has eight operational hubs in the country, with seven more in the pipeline.
With increasing sales and inventory, Mabborang said they are now planning to deploy vending machines for oneSTore products, as well as an online platform for business-to-business transactions. Aside from a mobile app for Android devices, an iOS version is also now in the works, he said.
