Grab Asenso Caravan engages Baguio and Benguet MSMEs

BAGUIO CITY — Micro and small business owners from Baguio and Benguet took a significant step toward digitalization as Grab Philippines brought its Grab Asenso Learning Caravan to the city on Friday, October 10.

The session gathered local merchants using the Grab platform for food, retail, and services.

Participants were introduced to mobile-first digital tools and practical training designed to help them grow their businesses online.

The caravan is part of Grab Asenso, the company’s “Digital Diskarte Program” aimed at accelerating the digital transformation of MSMEs outside Metro Manila.

According to Grab’s official program description, the initiative integrates training, in-app merchant tools, and access to demand through the GrabMerchant platform.

The company has cited that while 77 percent of Philippine MSMEs are eager to adopt digital tools, only around 16 percent have made the shift—a gap the caravan seeks to bridge.

During the Baguio leg, merchants received hands-on lessons on:

• Mobile-first digital marketing
• AI-assisted content creation using prompt templates in the GrabMerchant app

• Financial growth planning based on payout insights

Trainers also introduced embedded features such as Tap & Scan To Pay, QR PH payments, and the beta Grab Merchant AI Assistant, which the program describes as an “AI copilot” guiding merchants in making data-informed decisions.

The Baguio stop follows the first rollout in Angeles City in September and reinforces the company’s push to support entrepreneurship across major regional hubs.

Grab has earlier stated that the program is backed by collaborations with local government units and the Department of Information and Communications (DICT) technology.

MSMEs make up over 99 percent of all businesses in the Philippines, based on 2024 national statistics cited in earlier Grab Asenso materials.

With Benguet and Baguio hosting thousands of independent food, craft, and retail entrepreneurs, organizers said the Caravan aims to help local enterprises tap a broader customer base through digital channels.