A comprehensive, directory-based business-to-business (B2B) platform designed to provide greater visibility and access to international markets for Philippine exporters will be available this month or early September.
QSweep Tech Services Corporation chief executive officer Anton Ojeda said the PHX Source platform will enable local exporters to promote their products and services to the world.
“We want to be able to help all the exporters be found and we want foreign companies, foreign buyers to be able to connect with our local exporters in a way that is familiar to them, in a way that is very easy for them, very familiar with them in terms of technology and interface,” he said during the Usapang Exports session.
Ojeda said the online platform focuses on three features –Exporter Discovery for every exporter to be found; Product or Service Discovery to enable businesses showcase their products, services or capabilities to foreign buyers; and the Contact Tools.
“So the difference of Discovery is really how it is found, how it is showcased and the ability to allow commerce to happen, the ability to allow the buyers and the exporters to be able to talk to each other and communicate, and find out more about each other,” he said.
In terms of functions, Ojeda said the PHX Source platform features include Search, Exporter Page, Product Pages and Request for Quote.
The Search is designed for the buyers to discover new products and companies and for exporters to spotlight anything as a platform, he said.
“Every exporter on the platform will have its own page. Think of it like a mini site, you have your own site where your information is there, any credential will be listed there as well. Contact information is there and any products that you might have or specialties that you might have will be there. We can even allow for tours or facilities, you can put videos there, you can put information about the manpower and the staff there. So that when a buyer looks at it, its complete information already,” he added.
In Product Pages, Ojeda said details of products listed are highlighted –any kind of compliance there might be, dimensions or characteristics, shipping or similar information and ordering information.
“An interesting feature that we developed is called the Request for Quote. So this is more like a classified ad where a buyer can put their request,” he said.
To promote their service of listing exporters from the Philippines to international buyers, Ojeda said the company is localizing the content and conducting digital marketing.
“If there are events, then we join the events. If there are influential business organizations there, then we partner with them as well. So by doing that, we find out what kind of needs they have and then (we) targeted the content,” he said.
“Many markets don’t know we exist, they don’t know that we are capable of such things, many markets don’t even know we speak English. They don’t know what the capabilities of the Philippines (are), so it is very important that we showcase through our exporters, through the products that we make to make sure that these are the right fit with that market,” he added.
Ojeda said QSweep Tech Services is now in the phase 1 of the PHX Source platform development which is completing the directory.
“We will contact you because we want everybody to be here, we want it to be a complete directory. We need your help with this to make sure the information is correct… so that if the buyers are interested in you, they can contact you. We are launching our global site –it’s more designed for the North American market first. So a US market first, will have that open sometime next month,” he said.
Ojeda said Phase 2 of platform development involves taking the data globally.
“We will find out what countries you wanna target. If it’s Middle East (for example), our Middle East website will open first. If it’s Australia, then our Australia website will open first. It all depends where the data points us,” he said.
On the other hand, Phase 3 involves all regions already –one each for Europe, Central Asia, and East Asia, he said.
As the company works with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), Ojeda said that being in the PHX Source platform and putting products or services there is free, while the directory listing can be accessed also without cost.
“Our mandate from DTI, our partnership with them is really to make this free for everyone, to make this free for all of the exporters and all of the service providers,” he added.
