Smart Communications has been leading the charge toward digitalization in the agro-enterprise sector. They have introduced shoppertainment, a marketing strategy that combines entertainment with commerce, to boost the income of farmers and agro-enterprises.
In line with this, PLDT and Smart have partnered with TikTok and the Department of Agriculture for ‘BuyLocal Bazaar’, a special shopping event at TikTok Shop to help boost the income of its partner farmers and agro-enterprise merchants. The event is being held in celebration of National Farmers’ and Fisherfolk’ Month.
The PLDT Group has rolled out several initiatives in the last two years to support farmers, cooperatives, Micro-, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (MSMEs), members of women and faith-based organizations, and indigenous cultural communities.
These include the Digital Farmers Program, eBiznovation learning sessions, FarmSmart Farm, PlantSmart, and ‘Buy Local’. These initiatives promote and help strengthen livelihood and food security across the country through technology-abled and purpose-driven solutions.
Through shoppertainment, PLDT and Smart aim to expand the online selling channels of their partner agro-enterprises by generating entertaining content that emphasizes the relevance, fun, and community of online shopping. PLDT and Smart’s partner agro-enterprises can create unique videos that feature their products on TikTok Shop, enabling them to reach a wider audience.
The initiative is under PLDT and Smart’s ‘eBizNovation’, a digital skilling-to-e-commerce program for MSMEs and cooperatives to help expand their market reach and boost their income.
So far, PLDT and Smart have trained around 10,000 participants from MSMEs, cooperatives, and IP-led and small tourism businesses on technopreneurship topics such as social media marketing and selling on e-commerce platforms in partnership with various local government units and government agencies nationwide.
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The PLDT Group remains fully committed to uplifting the quality of lives of Filipinos through livelihood opportunities from technology. This is aligned with the United Nations’ SDG #1: No Poverty and SDG #8: Decent Work and Economic Growth.
