PLDT, Smart, 'Buy Local Bazaar' agro-preneurs expand market reach, earn more profits on TikTok Shop

Abbie Ricohermoso, owner of Josefina’s Homemade Food

PLDT and its wireless unit Smart Communications, Inc. (Smart) continue to assist partner agro-preneurs as part of their long-term commitment to help increase productivity and boost income across the agriculture sector through technology.

"The ‘Buy Local Bazaar’ special selling opportunity started May this year as an offshoot of PLDT and Smart’s ‘eBizNovation’, a digital upskilling-to-e-commerce program which aims to promote digital literacy and strengthen capacities among partner farmers and fisherfolk to increase livelihood opportunities and eventually improve the quality of their lives through technology," said Cathy Yang, First Vice President and Head of Group Corporate Communications at PLDT and Smart.

Almost a month after the launch of ‘Buy Local Bazaar’, PLDT and Smart remain steady and reliable partners of agro-enterprises as the Group has continuously rolled out learning sessions and hands-on workshops. To date, PLDT and Smart have already trained more than 50 partner merchants on how to maximize the TikTok Shop platform to grow their business and income.



Sugbo Sarsa owner, Lora Evalca

Sugbo Sarsa owner, Lora Evalca, also shared her TikTok Shop experience, “TikTok Shop has been engaging for me because of the entertaining content in the platform. It also offers users various ways to upload and the application itself is so easy to navigate. l learned an innovative way to reach our target market and connect to a wider audience that might be interested in our products through fun content, which will help boost our income.”

“We have been using digital tools to market our products for a year now. Attending the trainings on digital marketing conducted by PLDT and Smart has introduced us to TikTok Shop, helped us create content, and expanded our market reach. Our sales significantly increased after three months of learning from these trainings on utilizing TikTok Shop for our business,” shared Abbie Ricohermoso, owner of Josefina’s Homemade Food.

“As a first-time user, the trainings conducted by PLDT, Smart, and TikTok Philippines have eased me into using TikTok Shop much faster. Digital technologies help growing businesses without requiring higher operating costs. Using TikTok Shop also assisted me in selling more Porto Kitchen products to a wider target market, which truly made a difference,” shared Angelica Porto, owner of Porto Kitchen.

The PLDT Group continuously finds ways to extend more tech-enabled livelihood opportunities among farmers and fisherfolk, leaving no one behind. This is aligned with the United Nations’ SDG #1: No Poverty and SDG #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.



Angelica Porto, owner of Porto Kitchen