Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

I. General Background of the MSME

Ropa Studios is a slow fashion and lifestyle brand created by Annika Agoncillo and
Bea Ramiscal after a brainstorming conversation during their Zoology lecture. “This idea
would develop and grow throughout the following weeks, from settling on possible names,
contacting suppliers, to constantly brainstorming on our vision and goals,” said Agoncillo
(2021). They launched their first collection in July 2020, showcasing clothing (mostly
blouses and skirts for women) inspired by Philippine tropics and incorporating fashionable
Filipino styles into classic silhouettes.
Their main advocacies are sustainability and ethics. As an ethical brand, Ropa stands
for supporting other local brands, products, and artists. Filipino seamstresses produce each
garment, and the fabric used is always locally sourced. Ropa released a statement saying,
“We produce our pieces in limited quantities to minimize waste. Scrap fabrics from
production are saved to be incorporated into future designs. We also offer pre-orders to cater
to your personal sizing needs” (Ropa Studios, 2020). They also follow Fair Trade principles
when working with their artisan seamstresses and aim to reduce their carbon footprint by only
shipping packages on designated days.
II. Rationale
Though Ropa has amassed over one thousand supporters in just a year, partners
Agoncillo and Ramiscal would like to accomplish two things: (1) reach a broader audience in
their niche and (2) make their clothing more inclusive by offering more sizes. The brand was
launched amid the COVID-19 pandemic, meaning their presence in the Philippine fashion
industry has been limited to online platforms such as Instagram and Facebook. They currently
process orders through direct messages, emails, and JotForm.
When asked if they were interested in expanding their business to an e-commerce
platform or website, Agoncillo said it would make operations less time-consuming. However,
the partners do not think it would be cost-effective since maintaining a website costs around
PHP1500 - PHP2000 a month, and they are not yet at a point in their business where they can
afford this option.
We believe in Ropa Studios’ potential to increase its market share in the locally slow
fashion industry. They have garnered a base of loyal customers who purchase items from
each collection. We also believe that more clothing brands should follow the sustainable and
Fair Trade standards that Ropa has set in their company. With their growing sales, brand
identity, and ability to adapt trends into long-lasting pieces, Ropa Studios is a fitting company
Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

to analyze and assist in achieving their business goals.

III. Current Context of its Business

As of July 2021, Ropa Studios has garnered over 1,200 Instagram followers since its
launch in July 2020. They have launched ten (10) different styles of blouses and skirts with
two (2) major collections Flo and Costa, earning them a good number of loyal customers who
purchase from every collection. In addition, Ropa has partnered with KLOOK Philippines,
Flair Showroom, Aksyon ng Kabataan Organization, and more as merchants and sponsors.
The partners continue to locally source the fabrics themselves and collaborate with a
small team of seamstresses to produce the pieces. They are committed to creating timeless
clothes tailored to fashionable and sustainable women, usually in their teens or early 20s. As
a result, Ropa Studios is gaining incredible popularity among Generation Z. On Instagram,
many have been posting photos of themselves wearing clothing from Ropa Studios, serving
as free advertisement for the brand and showing that their consumers perceive them to be
worth-sharing to others.
They pride themselves in having a unique selling proposition that stems from the
company's values. As previously mentioned, they incorporate sustainable practices, such as
advocating for slow fashion and encouraging fair and ethical labor. To boot, the partners have
tasked themselves to continually update Ropa with better pieces to contribute to becoming an
even more sustainable and ethical brand. The partners of Ropa attract customers by holding
their values close to their hearts, as customers who share the same sentiments gravitate
towards the brand’s vision and mission.

IV. Current Business Processes

As a new business and MSME, Ropa Studios is continuously improving its business
processes. Since the company was launched during the pandemic, its business has always
been limited to online operations. Ropa Studios’ processes can be divided into the following:
Production of Garments
Ropa Studios gathers inspiration from Philippine culture to create sustainable yet
fashionable clothing designs. They outsource the pattern-making process and the
manufacturing of the garments by sending their designs to local seamstresses. After a couple
of fittings and adjusting the sample garments, they finalize the patterns to ensure the clothes
will turn out exactly how Ropa wants them to look. The partners order a few pieces of the
Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

final garments for promos and inventory, but most of the clothing will be produced by the
seamstresses once Ropa gets the pre-order count after the collection’s launch.
Selling the Clothes
Around two (2) weeks before the launch of their new collection, Ropa will release
promotional materials for their latest designs. Ropa’s most robust social media presence is on
Instagram. They are not active on Facebook or any other social media platform or
e-commerce website. Instead, they post photos and videos on Instagram of models wearing
their clothes to build interest within their target market and inform customers that a new
collection will soon be available. They do not allocate much of their budget for advertising
and rely on organic engagements to boost their posts. As a result, Ropa has built a loyal
customer base which means that they have interested buyers for each collection they release.
Fulfilling Orders
When the garments are sewn, they are made in small batches per collection to
minimize inventory waste. There are already fixed designs of apparel per collection that are
made in the sizes that the brand offers (XS, S, M, L). However, pre-order is also available to
accommodate more personal sizing needs or if the collection sells out faster than anticipated.
Customers may place their orders by contacting the brand through Instagram’s direct
messaging platform or answering their order form through a Jotform link. The Jotform page
provides checkboxes for the customer’s desired items/designs, color choice, size, and order
quantity, along with blank text boxes for their contact and delivery information. Once orders
are submitted, Ropa sends a confirmation email to the customer to review their order’s
contents and total price. The email also provides other necessary information, such as where
the customer must transfer money (bank transfer through BDO or GCash) and send proof of
payment to process the order.
After procuring the garments from Ropa’s seamstresses or their inventory, the team
carefully packages the items for delivery. Deliveries are scheduled only on certain days in
line with Ropa’s sustainable branding. Ropa Studios uses Fifth Express as its delivery service
because it uses plastic-free packaging. Due to COVID safety protocols, refunds and returns
are not accepted unless the customer has been given a faulty piece.

IV. Identified Problems within the System

As mentioned above, Ropa Studios receive orders through direct messages on
Instagram or by receiving order forms through their Jotform link. Although this is
cost-efficient as selling on such platforms is free of charge, it only provides limited options,
Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

making it difficult for customers to place orders. The Jotform’s first page consists of a gallery
layout of a catalog of their present collection. After the customer has presumably familiarized
themselves with the collection, they would have to go to the next page to input their
preferences for one (1) item through a series of drop-down menus. Once the customer has
filled out their personal information, Ropa Studios’ customer service will manually send a
confirmation email with the company’s bank details for payment.
Alternatively, ordering through Instagram’s Direct Messaging platform is rather
inconvenient, as one would have to go through Ropa's previous posts to see the prices and
which of the clothes are available. Additionally, although their Instagram feed looks
aesthetically pleasing, it is hard to distinguish which posts are for selling and which ones are
solely casual updates. Lastly, feedback or complaints may only be coursed through Instagram
DM, making it difficult for the partners to filter and organize which customers are placing
new orders.
Another problem observed by the group is their sporadic online presence since
collections only happen a couple of times a year. Despite this, most of their customers likely
buy from every collection throughout the year. However, they fail to create enough traction
on social media to reach new customers. Ropa Studios have Facebook and Tiktok accounts,
yet they are only active on Instagram. This minimal presence on social media could lead to
slow growth and a limited market.

VI. Recommendations through E-commerce Ideation

With how the current situation in the Philippines is going, Ropa Studios has been
doing an excellent job at keeping their business afloat. However, to further aid in the growth
and development of the company, the group was able to form recommendations for specific
areas that need improvement:
Create a website with a catalog of products
Firstly, creating a website with a catalog of products with their respective prices,
sizes, and availability will improve the convenience and efficiency of fulfilling orders on both
the customers’ and the business’ side. Ropa Studios may opt to start a website from scratch or
use pre-existing e-commerce sites. An easy way to start a website from scratch is through the
use of Ecwid. Ecwid is an e-commerce tool that allows users to create online selling websites
for free (Ecwid, 2021). It is easy to use by both customers and online sellers. Sites that use
Ecwid can link their products to Instagram, Facebook, Pinterest, and even Tiktok posts.
Moreover, using Ecwid will enable Ropa Studios to integrate built-in e-commerce features
Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

such as ordering, paying, adding to wishlist and cart, reviews, customer service chat box, and
a loyalty program/mailing list. However, if the business decides to use pre-existing sites,
platforms like Shopee provide the same e-commerce features to buyers and sellers (Shopee,
2021).
Include a blog within the website to increase website visitors
Secondly, studies show that external recommendations and additional information
about online products can directly affect customers' buying behavior. In pursuit of such
information, online shoppers would typically turn to blogs, where they can further assess a
product's quality. Thus, blogs can affect all the stages of the online buying process, from
initial searching of the product, determining the best combination of customizable choices (if
any), to finalizing their product purchase. However, the extent of a blog's influence on
customer behavior depends on how well-respected and trustworthy a blogger is. By
partnering with high-reputation bloggers to review one's online products (and ensuring the
products' high quality), the company stands to benefit significantly from increased sales,
brand recognition, and ultimately, brand loyalty.
Furthermore, blogs are an easy way to boost a website's search engine ranking. While
creating a website may incur recurring costs, these costs may easily be compensated through
pay-per-click earning structures. Therefore, having a blog can quickly increase website clicks
and visits, thereby boosting brand recognition.
Adopt uniform templates for releases
Lastly, because Instagram only allows one feed stream per account, organizing an
online business' posts is crucial. Currently, Ropa Studios' posts are unordered, making it
difficult for new customers to navigate. To delineate new item releases from casual feed
updates, templates for collection releases, administrative announcements, and other posts can
considerably help customers follow purchasing procedures and easily track and share
products they have a preference for.
Link Sales Tracker, Order Tracker, and Inventory Database
Many e-commerce websites such as Ecwid offer databases that automatically update
when a customer orders. We suggest linking these databases to Google Sheets so that the
whole Ropa team can track their sales, orders, and inventory accordingly. Google Sheets is a
cost-effective way to manage one’s business. The MSME would be able to continuously
update their customers on clothing availability, regardless of their seasonal releases.
All in all, by easing the buying process and increasing online presence, Ropa Studios
may see improved sales, customer satisfaction, and brand recognition.
Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

E-commerce Ideation Mockups

Website Home Page Mockup

Catalogue Mockup
Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

Ecwid Checkout Page Mockup

Website Blog Mockup

Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

Customer Service Chat Box Mockup

Order Tracker Mockup

Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

Sales Tracker Mockup

Inventory Database Mockup

Agatha Angeles, Francesca De Asis, Jacob Kallos, Nadine Que, & Rachel Soliven

References

Agoncillo, A. (2021, July 16). Personal interview [Personal interview].

Ecwid. (2021). #1 Free and Easy E-commerce Shopping Cart Solution - Try Ecwid Today!
Retrieved from https://www.ecwid.com/

Evans, K. (2020, March 27). Do You Need to Blog for eCommerce Websites? Retrieved from
https://blog.shift4shop.com/do-you-need-to-blog-for-ecommerce-websites

Hsu, C. L., Lin, J. C. C., & Chiang, H. S. (2013). The effects of blogger recommendations on
customers’ online shopping intentions. Internet Research.

Ropa Studios. (2021). About us. Ropa Studios. www.instagram.com/ropastudios

Shopee. (2021). Shopee. Retrieved from https://shopee.ph/