Thursday, December 13, 2007 Toral: Christmas shopping online By Janette Toral Digital Filipino
WITH the holidays fast approaching and with nine million Filipinos working abroad, Filipino shopping sites attract plenty of buyers who are on some last-minute holiday spending. To ensure delivery on or before Christmas day here and abroad, most online orders should be placed within the week.
Some sites that you can check out that sells popular shopping items are:
Store.Barangay.ph. For Filipinos based abroad who want to buy gifts for their loved ones in the Philippines, store.barangay.ph is an appropriate site. It is owned by Jonno and Nanette Alcaro. The couple created this portal to attract buyers among Filipinos based overseas, especially in the United States. The site carries a wide array of shopping items. You’ll also find Christmas items, maps and even photography.
Divisoria.com. This site is ideal for locals who would like to send music, movies, books and souvenirs for friends and relatives abroad.
RegaloService.com is owned by woman entrepreneur Reggie Bundang. This site won the APEC Di-gital Opportunity Center Awards this year. Interesting and rare items you’ll find in this site include art work, bags, leather goods, religious items, office and school accessories and even pet accessories.
There are also alternative gifts coming out online. These include traditional photos that are turned into mosaics and pop-art, among others. One site that offers that kind of service is Gallery7Online.com.
If thematic gift-giving is your cup of tea, one site that you can check is Butterflies.com.ph. This is where you’ll be able to order gift items with butterfly and insect themes.
MyAyala.com. Considered as the leading shopping portal in the country, this site offers a wide variety of choices, perhaps even the biggest, for buyers.
Popular items would also include prepaid cards, appliances, toys and games.
You can also even make donations through this site.
Another Filipina start-up site is MyLittleBaker.com. This site started out of information technology professor Joan Pinon’s hobby for baking homemade chocolate goodies, fruitcake and sweets. If you noticed, deli breads, cakes and pastries are popular as gifts during Christmas.
Another site that you can visit to find more products is Pandeli.com.
You can also opt to give local delicacies that include various sweets, mango wine and dried goods, among others. These are ideal gifts to foreigners and those who don’t get to visit various provinces in the country. PinoyDelikasi.com is a popular site serving this need.
