Shopee says it supported 300K local MSMEs

E-commerce platform Shopee said Friday it has helped thousands of small businesses get through the challenges brought by the COVID-19 pandemic by harnessing e-commerce.

“Shopee is committed to empowering different communities through e-commerce. Shopee’s strengthened digital ecosystem has supported over 300,000 local MSMEs as they transitioned online. Through Shopee Bayanihan, our CSR initiative, we have also helped uplift frontliners and children in need. It is part of our goal to harness the digital ecosystem’s potential to provide opportunities for every Filipino—from aspiring entrepreneurs, ordinary families, and the impoverished,” Martin Yu, director at Shopee Philippines, said in a statement.

“Through adversities such as rising unemployment, frontliner burnout, and back-to-back typhoons, Shopee aims to use the power of e-commerce to give back to local communities,” Yu said.

With unemployment rates reaching an all-time high, Filipinos turned to online selling as a source of income.

To help these entrepreneurs enter the online market, Shopee said it partnered with local government unit and government institutions to launch various initiatives and strengthened its ecosystem to support sellers.

Through collaborations with the Quezon City and Cavite LGUs and USAID, Shopee said it has onboarded over 1,000 sellers this year and provided digital marketing training to 500 female entrepreneurs.

The e-commerce platform added it also partnered with the Department of Trade and Industry to assist in onboarding sellers from Regions III, IV, and XII.

Shopee said it, likewise, also uses its platform to provide opportunities for local communities.

Shopee Bayanihan is Shopee’s corporate social responsibility initiative to uplift sectors in need of help.

For its first project under Shopee Bayanihan, Shopee partnered with 39 organizations to raise funds for Filipinos in need during the Enhanced Community Quarantine.

Shopee also launched Shopee Bayanihan: Frontliner Package, which provided frontliners with Shopee vouchers, Unilever vouchers, and mobile load from Smart.

More recently, Shopee Bayanihan: Pamaskong Pambata raised funds for 12 local foundations focused on increasing awareness for children’s needs.

It said proceeds from GMA Kapuso Foundation, Inc.; Save the Children; and World Vision through Shopee Bayanihan: Pamaskong Pambata also provided relief for children and families affected by the Typhoons Rolly and Ulysses.

Shopee said it pledged to donate P2.5M worth of vaccine to the Department of Health for the “Angat Lahat: A Dose of Hope” initiative in cooperation with Go Negosyo, AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals Philippines, and Philippine Vaccine Czar Carlito Galvez. -MDM, GMA News