New photo concept eyes Cebu market

CEBU, Philippines – After getting a good response from their various exposures in the Cebu market, Partypics, a Manila-based novelty photo booth business is eyeing to establish permanent presence in the area through opening an extension office this June.

In an interview with its chief operating officer Edgar Deocadiz during a recent expo in Cebu, he said that they have noted a building up of demand for novelty photo booths here after their series of exposures in the area.

Because of this, their company is now planning to establish a permanent presence here this coming June so that the Visayas market will also get easy access to their unique service.

Deocadiz said that Partypics Inc. started in May of last year with the aim of introducing a more interactive and fun-filled photo booth experience that specifically targets and capitalizes on small to large-scaled social events such as weddings, birthday parties, reunions, anniversaries, corporate gatherings, and other occasions.

“We started the business with the aim to introduce the concept of photo booths in a new way so that we can entice more customers. We offer customized lay-outs for the photo background to suit the tastes and preferences of our customers,” said Deocadiz.

He said that their photo booth is perceived by their client-base as a fun way to spice up their events and receptions because friends, colleagues and family members can bond over photos.

“There is already a fun-factor added to the traditional concept of a photo booth because this way guests can engage with each other. You cannot also get this same interactive and entertaining feel from hiring a point and shoot person because guests would usually feel conscious in their poses,” said Deocadiz.

He said that to intensify their operations without spending too much on overhead and other operational expenses, they do most of their transactions on-line and they get bookings also from the web.

Deocadiz said that this particular business operation will also be followed by their office here in Cebu.

He said that usually, they let their customers outside Manila to pay extra for their crew’s fare and accommodation at the duration of their events.

But because they realized that there is already a big demand in the regional markets, they immediately decided to put up a base here in Cebu that will cater to bookings from areas in the Visayas and even Mindanao so that potential clients in these areas will spend lesser.

 He said that the market in Cebu is very good for Partypics because they will be the first to offer this kind of concept.

Deocadiz said that so far they are not yet considering going into retail because they get a bulk of their business in their continually increasing event bookings which has become challenging for them to meet.

He said that despite being new in business, Partypics already get around 40 to 50 clients and event bookings on a monthly basis and they service around an average of four to five clients in a day.

And because of this demand, he said that they will be adding more photo booth machines this year to meet the growing demand of their clientele and also outlaid plans of a future venture into franchising in order to expand their business reach to the different areas in the country. – Rhia de Pablo