In this Executive Q&A, TechTravelMonitor.com speaks with Packworks Co-founder and Chief Marketing Officer Ibba Bernardo about the company’s latest study examining sari-sari store performance during the record-breaking 2024 typhoon season.
The findings highlight the remarkable resilience of micro-retailers across the Philippines—showing how these small yet vital stores sustain communities, respond to shifting consumer behaviors, and navigate rising prices despite easing national inflation trends.
Key findings include:
Prices rising despite lower inflation: Packworks’ analysis of over one million monthly transactions shows sari-sari store prices continue to climb even as national inflation dropped from 6% in 2023 to 1.9% in 2025.
Essential goods see steep increases: Baby oil and baby powder prices rose by 17% and 25%, respectively, across multiple regions, while snack and candy prices jumped by up to 27%.
Rice costs remain elevated: Despite a slight decline in early 2025, rice prices are still higher than the national average, reflecting persistent cost pressures on staple goods.
Micro-retailers under strain: Packworks executives warn that thin profit margins and wholesale price shifts make sari-sari stores—and their low-income customers—especially vulnerable to rising costs.
- Your study showed sari-sari stores had a sales surge during the 2024 typhoon season. What does this reveal about their resilience in times of crisis?
Bernardo: Our data findings were interesting because they challenged the common belief that these small neighborhood stores are less resilient. Instead, our numbers revealed that by simply being open and present, our store owners have figured out how to persevere and even positively thrive amid times of crisis like major typhoons.
These findings also reveal the prevailing character of these business owners: a true entrepreneurial spirit – bootstrapping their stores from scratch and finding opportunities during the most adverse conditions. These psychological factors were touched upon in our previous study with PIDS and were exhibited here in very quantitative and substantial ways.
2. The Bicol region, particularly Camarines Norte, recorded some of the biggest sales spikes. What factors drive this kind of demand in disaster-prone areas?
Bernardo: Although our analysis focused on the quantitative numbers, we can infer some qualitative factors based on our follow-on survey of our users. One such factor was that in these disaster-prone areas, there was a sense of readiness with our stores to absorb the rise in demand due to restricted mobility to other supply sources, such as formal supermarket chains and other retail shops that require additional travel – customers buy from the closest available source. Some other factors include, store owners’ willingness to extend their services during these times of need, with some stores reporting that they keep their store open for 24 hours to meet the increase in demand.
3. Your data highlighted unusual buying patterns—such as gin and cigarettes topping sales during storms, and detergent after. What do these trends tell us about consumer behavior during and after typhoons?
Bernardo: Taking these numbers at face value, we can only infer certain behavior. One possible reaction during typhoons is the increased stress levels due to the havoc and uncertainty of the storms, which perhaps explains the tendency to purchase these discretionary products to help relieve some of that pressure. Moreover, detergent sales increase after typhoons possibly indicates affected households begin their road to recovery by prioritizing the cleanup of their garments and living premises. Further multi-year qualitative research would help shed more light on these behaviors.
4. With climate change expected to bring stronger and more frequent storms, how can businesses and policymakers support sari-sari stores to remain reliable lifelines for communities?
Bernardo: Our data presents an opportunity for these stakeholders to treat sari-stores as not just a receiver of aid, but as a distributor of needed aid to their larger communities. Armed with our real-time data, businesses can better plan and adjust their logistics to meet these weather-related buying trends with a just-in-time agile approach to our stores as last-mile distribution points.
As climate change continues to reshape our environment, businesses can adapt to on-the-ground realities using our data—because rain or shine, these stores are here to stay.
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