This was the assurance given by the national president of the Philippine Retailer’s Association (PRA) after admitting that the industry is in “difficult times.”
“The higher inflation rate has resulted in the tightening of belts,” said PRA national president Jorge Mendiola, during the second regional retailer’s conference held at the Parklane Hotel last Saturday.
But the difficult times, said Mendiola, is the best time for companies in the industry to “learn, learn and learn.”
“This is the time to update strategies, (find) new solutions,” he said, adding that once the “crisis” is over, businesses will be ready.
In a news conference, he said that it will be hard to forecast double-digit growth for the industry this year.
But not all sectors are badly affected by the “crisis,” which was caused by rising prices of oil and petroleum products, he said.
Thriving
Mendiola said that among all sectors, the food and school supplies businesses continue to thrive as these are essential goods while the soft goods industries—like apparel and clothing—are those ones that felt most of the impact of the crisis.
As an advice, Mendiola told retailers to sacrifice long-term goals by offering promotional programs to retain their customers.
He added that it is also important to continue being compassionate with customers.
“At least, you would know that your customers are with you (during) the good and bad times,” he said.
As part of PRA’s advocacy to improve the retail industry in the country, Mendiola also called for professionalism among stakeholders through trainings and certification courses.
He also advised companies to start looking into green retailing as this will be the future of the industry.
Environment-friendly
“Go for environment-friendly shopping bags and packaging materials,” he said.
He cited, as an example, SM department stores that are already using biodegradable plastic bags.
He said that biodegradable plastic bags may be five percent more expensive than traditional plastic bags but are less costly to produce than paper bags. He pointed out that paper bags are not entirely environment-friendly as to produce paper, trees have to be cut.
Mendiola also told participants in the retailers’ conference to continue tapping “positive sectors,” which are considered to have the purchasing power at present. These are the overseas Filipino workers, the business process outsourcing industry and the tourism sector. (DME)
