Bathing is a daily ritual, sacred and taken seriously in the Philippines as research confirmed that Filipinos spend more for hygiene and self-care essentials, such as shampoo and conditioner, than food during emergencies.
A research on Filipino shopping habits conducted by Packworks Sari IQ showed that 18 percent of sari-sari stores’ sales went to hair care products. Laundry supplies saw the second highest portion with 16 percent of sales. Meanwhile the “others” category, which include oral care, body care, beverages, and canned goods came in third with 15 percent.
The research covered purchases by Filipinos in sari-sari stores during the aftermath of Typhoon Odette in December 2021 (Leyte), Taal volcanic eruption in March 2022 (Batangas/Cavite), and Abra earthquake (Abra) in June 2022.
Apparently, bathing is a daily ritual sacred to many Filipinos–and it shows in their shopping habits, Packworks said as results of the research discovered the priorities among Filipinos during calamities.
Breakfast items like tea, coffee, and creamer placed fourth with 14 percent, followed by cooking necessities at 13 percent, oats and cereals at 13 percent, and pasta and noodles at 11 percent.
Meanwhile, the hair care category recorded a more than 50 percent sharp increase in volume when an earthquake struck in North Luzon (Abra Earthquake) compared to normal days.
Data further showed that the hair care category also experienced uplifts of more than 50 percent during the period of the Taal Volcano unrest around the last week of March 2022.
However, Filipinos shifted their spending priorities when Typhoon Odette hit Leyte. It was revealed that spending on noodles and cooking essentials increased to almost 60 percent in the area after the disaster. In fact, hair care products trailed behind at 11 percent in average consumer spending, following pasta and noodles at 15 percent.
“The Philippines is a regular target of natural disasters because of its location at the Pacific Ring of Fire. Residents at the epicenter opt to buy their immediate necessities from a nearby ‘sari-sari’ store rather than go to big supermarkets,” said Andres Montiel, Packworks’ Head of Data.
“The analysis on the sari-sari stores becomes more valuable to track what items are deemed to be essential upon the occurrence of such natural disasters. This can be helpful in demand planning and product seasonality on the brand principal’s end,” he added.
The data sets were generated using Sari IQ, a business intelligence tool created by Packworks that gives retailers data analytics on consumer behavior and spending habits of people in a locality who purchase their needs in sari-sari stores.
Packworks said that data is generated from its wide network of almost 200,000 sari-sari stores nationwide which contains insightful information on consumer spending and can be customized to create an analysis for sari-sari store categories that incur an uplift when compared to before a natural disaster occurs.
Packworks is a startup company that provides a business-to-business (B2B) platform that is easy to use, has low bandwidth, and light footprint that will allow sari-sari store owners to become more efficient in managing their business. Founded in 2018 and started as a solution for multinational companies in the Philippines to connect with neighborhood stores, the platform has now transformed into a way out of poverty for the millions of sari-sari store owners across the Philippines.
Packworks empowers the sari-sari stores through scalable and accessible technology, with its team composed of dedicated developers, programmers, and technicians that work to put the power back into the hands of the people at the heart of Filipino communities by providing them digital opportunities previously only available to big companies.