KairoTech and Packworks are developing a retail media network built around the Philippines’ ubiquitous sari-sari stores, creating a potential new advertising channel that links digital campaigns with consumer activity in local communities.
The companies have partnered to develop what they describe as the country’s first Sari-Sari Retail Media Network, combining Packworks’ network of more than 300,000 digitized neighborhood stores with KairoTech’s behavioral digital media and audience intelligence capabilities.
The initiative targets a fragmented but significant retail market. The Philippines has an estimated 1.3 million sari-sari stores, which remain an important distribution channel for consumer goods despite the expansion of supermarkets, convenience stores, and e-commerce.
For consumer brands, the network could provide more detailed visibility into local demand, allowing advertising, promotions, and distribution strategies to be targeted at specific communities. It could also connect digital engagement more directly with purchases made through neighborhood retailers.
“Retail media should do more than make advertising more precise. In the Philippine context, it can connect brand investment to real economic activity in communities,” KairoTech Managing Partner Ed Sunico said.
The model could also give sari-sari store owners access to insights that help them make better inventory decisions, accelerate product movement, and potentially improve margins.
Packworks Chief Strategy and Communications Officer Ibba Rasul Bernardo said technology and data can help stores respond more effectively to local demand while preserving the traditional “suki” relationships that remain central to neighborhood retail.
The partnership effectively extends retail media beyond major supermarket chains and e-commerce platforms, bringing independent micro-retailers into the country’s expanding data-driven advertising ecosystem.
For brands, the bigger opportunity is not simply another place to display advertisements. By connecting media exposure with neighborhood-level sales activity, the network could offer a clearer view of whether marketing spending is actually translating into purchases.
If scaled successfully, sari-sari stores could become not just distribution points, but valuable data and media channels for reaching Filipino consumers where everyday purchases are made.
