By Alithea De Jesus
Retail giant in construction supplies and home improvement in the Philippines, Wilcon Depot continue to expand their business as the construction industry continues to grow in the post-pandemic world.
Back during the height of the pandemic, Wilcon already adopted a new business model to serve the repair, renovate, and building needs of its loyal customers during the lockdown. As a trailblazer in the home and construction supply and improvement industry for the past 45 years, Wilcon Depot needed a trusted connectivity partner to make sure it could keep addressing accessibility pain points to be able to continue delivering high-quality products and solutions.
In order to adapt to the new working environment and innovate towards a more digital retailing model, Wilcon Depot partnered with Converge ICT Solutions, Inc. with their enterprise-grade product, Direct Internet Access (DIA), which allows them to have a dedicated and secured internet service.
Having DIA assured the company that it could maintain the smooth flow of operations and continue providing excellent customer service. The Direct Internet Access granted Wilcon Depot a well-orchestrated operational process of virtual video conferences between various departments, comprehensive data sharing, and coordinated logistical communication to ensure continuous business productivity.
“The IT infrastructure is very important to any growing company. Especially for us as a retailer, we need data very quickly. We need the data to be consolidated back at our head office. And we need data to be consistent and available to our teams so we can make proper decisions. Operationally, we cannot run our costs, we cannot run our systems without connectivity,” said Lorraine Belo-Cincochan, President and CEO of Wilcon Depot.
“We needed to have stable connectivity when we realized that video conferencing is here to stay for a while. One of the things that we are looking into is upgrading our connectivity. Not just in the head office because people worked from home, but we also needed to communicate with our branches. When we reopened, we amped up our bandwidth because we offered our Browse Call Collect service on Viber. It’s still available today and Converge helped us make it possible. We couldn’t have done it with the existing bandwidth that we had before Covid,” Belo-Cincochan added.
For the majority of their branches, Wilcon Depot is currently subscribed to the Converge iBiz product, a pure fiber internet plan created to provide businesses with quality connections at an affordable cost. As the company evolves and expands with an increasing need for more bandwidth, they are hand in hand with Converge as they transition from iBiz to flexiBIZ—a business-grade connectivity solution designed for maximum efficiency during daytime business peak hours.
Direct Internet Access – Time of Day, an innovative and unique product from Converge, helps boost Wilcon Depot’s operations and aids in their plans for nationwide expansion through a premium, dedicated, and secured internet service with double of their subscribed bandwidth as they need it during the most critical hours of their operations, providing them flexibility and unrivaled value for money.
“We’re happy to be Wilcon Depot’s longtime partner in connectivity. Helping them maintain their status as a pioneer in construction supply and home improvement retail in the Philippines despite the challenges of the pandemic is in line with our guiding belief in accessibility, innovation, and growth,” said Converge Chief Operating Officer, Jesus C. Romero. “We are proud to be their continued partner in providing solutions for every Filipino home as they continue to expand nationwide. Converge remains committed to supporting businesses as they adapt to new operating models to improve efficiency and increase productivity.”
Converge has been providing businesses and companies with secure, flexible, and dynamic enterprise-grade fiber solutions to help retail businesses like Wilcon Depot ensure their businesses run smoothly. To learn more about Converge Business Solutions, visit www.convergeict.com/business.