By: Sophie Querijero
Technology has always paved the way for users to reach out to others. The rise of COVID-19 coupled with the ease of access brought by social media has created an extremely competitive online market, with business owners struggling to stand out amongst all the social media clutter.
For this edition of SEA Wave for MSMEs and Social Enterprises, we are featuring Karina See, a 2021 U.P. graduate with a degree in Landscape Architecture, and Tiffany Uy, a 2019 Ateneo graduate with a degree in Management Engineer. The two discovered a crucial problem most online sellers have – management of operations and customer communication.
With minimum background on owning a business or creating an application, the two observed that many small business owners struggled to transition to online operations in the wake of COVID-19. Many struggled to manage their supplies and orders, especially for those that operate based on orders received through direct message (DMs). This led the pair of See and Uy to develop OrderBasket.
OrderBasket is a business tool that has made its mission “to empower small businesses one order at a time by creating a platform that enables entrepreneurs to focus on growing their business.” By providing MSMEs the ability to sell their products in a platform that focuses on their specific brand needs without the need to invest lots of money in design and development, OrderBasket helps small business owners find their voice in the online marketplace.
The brand offers free, standard, and custom plans. With MSMEs in mind, the free plan provides the basic needs of online shops with features such as inventory management, a customizable shop, automated e-mails, marketing support and more, with a limit of 50 orders per month. The standard plan, on the other hand, has a price of P499 a month and offers more elaborate features, more support, and a higher order limit of 350 per month. OrderBasket’s custom plan adjusts to the needs of the business owner based on a consultation with the website.
Screenshot from OrderBasket website
In an interview with TNC (The New Channel), Karina See stated that “[we] wanted to make it very accessible for people who aren’t tech-savvy [and] those people who cannot invest too much money in these types of products because there are many available online platforms like [OrderBasket], but we wanted to support these smaller businesses who typically don’t want to invest in these types of things because they can’t because of the scale [of the business].”
With the challenges all of us face during this difficult time, it’s a welcome change to see people willing to help small business owners manage their businesses and grow. Interested users can avail of a free demo of the website and its different features by signing up through OrderBasket’s website here.
The SEA Wave for MSMEs and Social Enterprises initiative is a series of stories that supports micro and small to medium enterprises, brands and companies looking for a space to share their inspiring entrepreneurial stories that create positive impact in communities. In these challenging times, SEA Wave believes in the power of stories and how it can help individuals, organizations and businesses reach out to more people. Send your stories to desk@seawave.media and let us help you share them.