Web developers learn social e-commerce trends from SMilDS.com

Community networking can be empowering if you are looking for anything that will ease the stress of work, of school, or soliciting help from companies to get an important project off the ground.

WebGeek Philippines, a new online community of web specialists and enthusiasts, was one group which needed corporate assistance to launch its first ever web design and programming competition billed as “Web and IT Summit 2009.” SMilDS.com, the brand behind the first online mall in the Philippines, agreed to be a major sponsor.

In his presentation before 30 students, SMilDS.com business development and training officer Christopher Santos emphasized that community or social networking is a great business enabler when applied on the Web.

SMilDS.com, he explained, is the first social e-commerce platform to be introduced in the international market, including the Philippines.

The e-commerce software is a complete electronic retailing platform that includes website development and customization, merchant registration and activation, customer relationship management, payment and logistics management, portal, education and training.

The software’s unique and  innovative feature is its intelligent e-trading engine which facilitates SMilDS.com online merchants to promote not only their own products on their webstore, but also the merchandise of other online store owners on the marketplace and sell it.

Cross-selling and up-selling each others’ products and services are effective sales/marketing strategies that can drive additional traffic to one’s website. It can pique the interest of unique visitors coming to the webstore and make them visit the website again. Repeated visits frequently lead to “pay and click”.

WebGeek Philippines president John Arce thanked SMilDS.com for their support of the campus-wide event and for sharing their knowledge on web development trends and on fully integrated e-commerce platforms that make buying and selling on the Internet safe and easy to do.

Mr. Arce endorsed the software to the students, many of them eager to start freelancing as web designers and developers. AMA University’s current student population stands at 150,000.

Other lecturers invited to the WebGeek IT Summit were Jonas delos Reyes of Yahoo!Southeast Asia, Jay Fajardo of ProudCloud, Joomla Campus of Tour Philippines, Jhondie Abenza of Joomla User Group and e-commerce advocate Janette Toral of DigitalFilipino Club.