In their desire to make the shopping service to the travellers easier, Duty Free Philippines strategically partnered with SpeedRegalo by sealing the deal with the country’s most reliable online shopping services provider.
In the memorandum of agreement ceremony held at the Duty Free Philippines Corporate Office in Parañaque City, Duty Free Philippines Corporation Chief Operating Officer Vicente A. Angala and SpeedRegalo General Manager JC Medina joyfully celebrated the MOA Signing making SpeedRegalo as the First Official Online Shopping Service Provider of Duty Free Philippines.
With this exciting partnership, our OFWs, Balikbayans and Tourists can make their shopping convenient and less stressful by doing it online before they arrive to the Philippines.
In the interview of THEPHILBIZNEWS with SpeedRegalo GM JC Medina, he explained that this partnership will be done into two phases. First is the pick-up of the online purchased products at the airport.
“It is easy as 1,2,3… Since most Filipinos are tech savvy or social media active, Duty Free Philippines COO Vico Angala sees this as an opportunity and at the same time part of improving the service especially to our OFWs, Balikbayans and even tourists to make their shopping a lot easier . All it takes is to order in the online store and as soon as you arrive in the Philippines, you will just pick it up what you ordered online. This saves you time especially to those who are excited to be with their family” Medina explained.
“Then on the second phase since there system is already in place, from online ordering, we are gearing towards having it delivered to a place when the travelling shopper arrives in the Philippines. We are still looking at the turnaround time as we have to consider the transit time and other factors. But one thing is certain, this is a breakthrough and something that will make our Kababayans and even guests to smile for the service that we will be providing them, the SpeedRegalo official said.
Meanwhile, Duty Free Philippines Deputy General Manager for Operations Dino Belmonte said that “DFP opted to embark in an online shopping services because we understand how important for our Kababayans to have more time with their family. Thus, this idea came into being. But we have to be realistic that in as much as we want to do something better in terms of service, we are aware of limitation… we have no expertise in e-commerce”.
“So the idea of looking for a reliable, best system and best offer service provider that would execute our e-commerce platform, SpeedRegalo was the one that fits to our ideal partner online service provider company,” Belmonte said.
He added that DFP is not expecting a big boost in sales in 2019 since it is just started to adapt the e-commerce venture, but very optimistic that there would be around 5-10% increment in sales by 2020 when it takes off from the ground.
For Duty Free Philippines Chief Operating Officer Vicente Angala, he shared with THEPHILBIZNEWS in a sideline interview that they chose SpeedRegalo as its primary partner on this e-commerce service because it caters to the OFW market, similar to the Duty Free Philippines’ brand and primary target market.
The DFP COO also said that they are targeting to hit the P280 million in sales next year primarily because of the growing Chinese market.
He also added that this year they are hoping to generate P226 million in revenues, a bit lower than its initial target of P260 million because of the delays in the opening of some of its stores.
He explained that Duty Free Luxe in the Mall of Asia complex should have opened December 2017 but just only opened last November 2018 almost 1 year delayed from their target opening.
The airport outlets also incurred delays in its opening dates like the NAIA Terminal 3 outlet which should have opened last year, but just opened in July, as well as the Terminal 2 of the Mactan Cebu International Airport.
Interestingly, “Duty Free Luxe’s soft opening from Oct. 17 to 24, 2018, it generated over P4.1 million in total sales, a good indication of Duty Free Luxe’s robust sales performance until the holiday season,” Angala said.
“We are bullish that the sales performance will continue to grow when we do our grand opening in the first quarter of 2019 and as we develop the store’s awareness to the public,” Angala added.
To make the online shopping more convenient, Duty Free Philippines has also partnered with mobile payment apps like WeChat and Alipay that primarily being used as mode of payment for the Chinese tourist market. But there would be more exciting partnerships to come not just in terms of online service, but also in the payment system as the Duty Free Philippines continues to explore all avenues that would improve their service to the shoppers in store or online.
Apart from buying duty free products online, Angala revealed to THEPHILBIZNEWS that shoppers can start their “Kabuhayan Package” available only in Duty Free Philippines “Kabuhayan Store”. This is in line with Duty Free Philippines effort to support the government’s thrust and program in creating many more entrepreneurs in the country.
The Kabuhayan (or Livelihood) store is intended for our Filipino overseas workers and balikbayans who can buy various livelihood tools and equipment that are in line with their enterprising interest. Whatever livelihood tools or equipment purchased, buyers can avail of the free skills training or workshop with Duty Free Philippines’ partner agency.
In closing, the DFS Chief said, “We are service provider. We always think of ways on how we can be best help to our Kababayans…. Thus, the “Kabuhayan Store” was taken into so much consideration for them. They worked hard abroad, and we want them to have a small business as a start and make them big in the process. And one thing is certain, whatever they buy from the Duty Free Stores they are genuine and there is no risk of buying fake products.”
