Expansion to digital

Pet Lovers Centre Philippines, which is operated by the country's second largest multi-format retailer Robinsons Retail Holdings (RRHI), partners with MetroMart, an online grocery and store delivery service that caters to areas in Metro Manila, to give pet owners convenient access to its products. The two-year-old pet supplies chain has also established a "call-and-collect" service in which shoppers can phone the nearest branch, place their orders, and hire a courier to pick up the purchases.
The measures were implemented as a response to business-curtailing movement restrictions imposed by the government to control the spread of Covid-19 in the country. Metro Manila, where three of the four stores of Pet Lovers Centre Philippines are located, was placed under the so-called enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from 16 March to 31 May; Cebu, the country's second biggest metropolis and the location of the franchisee's fourth store, has been under ECQ since 16 June. At the time of going to press, restrictions in the central Philippine province had not been lifted.
"Covid-19 changed Pet Lovers Centre's offline operations from temporary store closure to lower foot traffic post-ECQ. But with the growth of digital, Pet Lovers Centre saw the opportunity to bring shopping convenience to our customers through our call-and-collect service and the MetroMart app. With the addition of these services, it helped to lessen the impact of Covid-19 on our sales," Stanley Co, Pet Lovers Centre Philippines general manager, told PET worldwide.
He labelled the expansion to digital as "inevitable" in a market that puts a premium on convenience. Malaysia-based information aggregator iPrice revealed in 2017 that Philippine online shoppers were the second-biggest spenders by basket size among six Southeast Asian markets, paying around 56 dollars on average in a single purchase. Only Singaporeans spent more, averaging 91 dollars per basket checked out.

"Adapting to this change can be very helpful to the business. With Pet Lovers Centre's presence online on different e-commerce platforms, we can cover more locations and reach more customers. By going digital, we can also get a variety of information quickly that will help us to be agile and offer products and services that our customers need," Stanley Co noted.