Business innovation during a pandemic

If there is one thing the COVID-19 pandemic has taught us, it is that things will never be the same again. Working from home will continue to be the norm. Children will continue with online learning and people will try as much as possible to stay at home and see what kind of services they can avail of online.

In such an environment, businesses need to innovate in order to make it in the new normal. They will have to look for other means to market their goods and services. This is especially true for those who own mall-based businesses. People will now think twice about going to the mall and are now looking for alternatives.

An alternative will soon be coming your way via an e-commerce platform. This e-commerce platform will house the first Digital Mall in the Philippines. Go Shopping Philippines will offer all the services that are available in a physical mall. This will be the way to shop in the new normal.

Go Shopping Philippines is the brainchild of Neil Garcia La-as, who is its CEO and Founder. According to La-as, it has always been his dream of coming up with an e-platform that would protect both the concept store owners and their customers.

“The new platform secures the buyers from any fake items being sold online. Concept store owners, on the other hand, will be assured that their brands will be properly represented and marketed through this platform,” he said.

He added that he himself had been a victim of fake items which served as his inspiration to push for this platform.

“Aside from a series of bad experiences, what really inspired me is the thought that none of the existing platforms are Filipino-owned so I decided to take on the challenge and risked everything,” La-as added.

Go Shopping PH has a number of distinct features that make it different from the other e-commerce platforms like Lazada and Shopee. Only brand concept stores will be accommodated by this new platform. This will ensure that all items sold are authentic. These concept stores will endorse their inventories to the platform which will sell and ship their items to customers. The store will just wait for their in-house inventory and month-end sales performance report.

Other features include a private chatbot or Viber bot for each tenant, a dedicated customer service department to cater to the concerns of tenants, a pay per view and one demand feature, an online clinic, pharmacy, grocery and hotels and restaurants. To be part of this digital mall, tenants will have to shell out a monthly subscription.

“Other platforms do not ask for a monthly subscription, yes, but Go Shopping PH is different. With your monthly subscription and depending on the package you avail of, you can avail of in-house selling, in-house inventory, in-house delivery, marketing, and ad content for your concept,” La-as explained.

Additional perks include photo shoots and video features on the store, exposure in nightly Go Shopping PH show in YouTube channels of PEPPS TV and ExPTV, in house models for products, fashion show for clothing lines, highlight store concept in an LED billboard in EDSA and Facebook post boosting.

“With all these perks, I do not think the two other platforms provide all these services,” he said. “They are free yet they throw back the concerns to each individual merchant. With Go Shopping, our tenants will simply wait for their month-end sales and inventory reports.”

As for the application process to be part of Go Shopping, La-as said they have “a thorough process in accepting a particular business.”

“For one, we have this concept approval stage where concepts are to be scrutinized before they can be uploaded in the system,” La-as said. “This is to ensure that we are dealing with the real concept stores and that the items they are selling are authentic.”

Once the business concept is approved, Go Shopping’s Leasing Department will process the uploading of the concept into the system by asking for the necessary business document and permits. Once the tenants have been uploaded into the system, Go Shopping PH will announce their entry into all social media accounts.

“You can expect Go Shopping Philippines will be marketed exhaustively by our marketing team to ensure it reaches the widest audience as possible,” La-as said.