CEBU, Philippines — Veteran trading operators in Cebu are now starting to embrace the digital retail platform, catching up with the changing texture of retail and trading in this generation.
Felix Taguiam, Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCCI) vice president for finance and administration, said online business has become the Cebuano traders’ focus in the last couple of years. But in 2020 most of the old-time traders are ready to fully enter the digital highway.
Taguiam, who owns Deco Sales, Inc., said going online is the name of the game in 2020.
Aside from exposing the business to the global market through the online platform, traders’ understood the big savings they have to incur from investing into sophisticated digital tools to fully maximize the online world.
He mentioned the inspiring success stories of online retail brands such as Lazada, among others, that pushed traditional trading companies to do the same.
Aside from cutting off the cost of middlemen, overhead expenses in operating store with bigger manpower, entering online offers big savings to traders without losing their clientele.
Besides, he said the younger breed who are now becoming the decision makers, and are earning their own income, are shopping online across product categories.
However, he clarified that while old-time traders are now embracing the online landscape, this does not mean that they have to shut down physical stores.
He said maintaining physical stores are still important, only this time, with leaner manpower.
“Online economy is growing faster. We have to catch up,” he added.