Ready-to-eat food, hygiene products top ‘sari-sari’ purchases ahead of payday
MANILA -Ready-to-eat food and hygiene products are the most-bought products at small neighborhood retail shops shortly before payday, that crucial time when people tend to stretch their budget or what many call as petsa de peligro.
This is according to the findings of Philippine startup Packworks and socio-cultural research firm Fourth Wall, which drew data from the former’s data analytics tool, Sari IQ, which measures the behavior and spending habits of consumers who shop at sari-sari stores.
Packworks said that their data analytics platform compared the demand for products at sari-sari stores during the 14th and 29th days of each month with the daily average for the year.
What’s in the basket?
Examining data from 24 periods, particularly every 14th and 29th of each month in 2022, Packworks found that purchases of personal hygiene products such as shampoo, body soap and alcohol increased most frequently, growing at 11 periods in a year.
It added that ready-to-eat food such as canned meat, powdered coffee, soy sauce and soda had a parallel growth, rising within the same periods.
The top five categories during petsa de peligro are: shampoo, making up 11 percent of the total; detergent, 8 percent; body soap, 8 percent; canned meat , 7 percent; and alcohol, 7 percent.
Meanwhile, the top five most-purchased goods during paydays are: detergent at 9 percent; canned fish and seafood ,7 percent; sanitary pads, 7 percent; canned meat, 6 percent, and baby powder, 6 percent.
‘Honorable’
John Brylle Bae, research director at Fourth Wall, said the tendency to equally prioritize hygiene products and essential goods was deeply rooted in the Filipino psyche and culture, which associates cleanliness with honor or hiya.
“Keeping oneself clean is preserving one’s and his family’s honor, while untidiness is a manifestation of disrepute or walang hiya (no honor). As hiya is foundational in the Filipino psyche, it is a foremost consideration, equaling in importance with essentials such as food,” Bae said.
He said that the data suggested that retailers and marketers should also be mindful of deep-seated, sociocultural-driven fears such as the fear of losing one’s honor.
