Newly launched e-commerce website Shop Pacifika has introduced its pilot programme to host vendors, including two Suva Flea Market sellers which support a collective of smaller entrepreneurs and brands.

“This is to give these vendors training and to see whether their sales, reach, and metrics improve from a physical store to going online,” said Shop Pacifika founder Rakin Wahed at the launch in the Suva Flea Market yesterday.

Shop Pacifika currently features four participating vendors, two of which are hubs that support up to 80 smaller vendors, Mr Wahed said.

Cheap Games Fiji, Pacifique Artisans Collective, Gift Souvenirs & Handicraft Boutique, and Brisbane-based Velosight Oz are the sellers currently in the Shop Pacifika store.

“The sub-vendors who supplied them (Pacifique Artisans Collective and Gift Souvenirs & Handicraft Boutique) do not necessarily have the incentive to make multiple versions of a product. Going online opens the market region for these sub-vendors from Suva to the West and the North,” Mr Wahed said.

“The platform gives them an incentive to scale up their production. Two pieces can be sold in Suva and three pieces can be accessible by someone in the West who also wants that limited item.”

Pacifique Artisans Collective creative co-ordinator and assistant director Shakira Ah Koy-MacDonald shared her optimism for the partnership with Shop Pacifika.

“We have 58 vendors that are part of our shop, that are now part of his shop,” Ms Ah Koy-MacDonald said.

“It widens our markets big time, specifically for our art gallery. It’s quite a niche market. We don’t have enough people that come through the space that want to buy or spend their money on us,”

“This is a great initiative for informal businesses-people, creatives, and artisans – to use this platform for higher visibility, widen their market, and spread the art and creativity across the Pacific,”

Mr Wahed added that the pilot programme would add six vendors over the next year.

While the platform is currently only open to vendors in Fiji, Mr Wahed hoped the programme would open the door for Shop Pacifika to be available to sellers across the Pacific region.

Mr Wahed said an additional $30,000 in funding would be required to develop vendor and shopper mobile apps for Shop Pacifika and ensure the “pilot programme is more successful”.

Pacifique Artisans Collective creative co-ordinator and assistant director Shakira Ah Koy-MacDonald said the pilot programme widens markets for her art gallery.
Photo: Jernese Macanawai

“That’s something we need assistance in. We cannot extend the programme if we cannot meet our goals ourselves. I guess we have to reach out to the government. Partner bodies are always welcome,” he said.

“Hopefully we can figure something out.”

This project has been seven years in the making for Mr Wahed.

As a member of the MSME Council under the Fiji Commerce and Employers Federation (FCEF), his journey has been supported by a tight- knit community of local MSME entrepreneurs.

“It’s very MSME-friendly and MSME-focused,” said MSME Council chair Watesoni Nata Junior.

“Rakin has been a member of the MSME Council for a couple of years now and we’ve always discussed ideation. In the buildup of this and his launching, we’ve always guided him, given him advice when he asks and that’s part of the services and support we provide at the MSME Council.”

Feedback: jernese.macanawai@fijisun.com.fj