Retailers unfazed by inflation pressures, eye organic growth

By Roderick Abad @rodrik_28 Contributor

“Cooling inflation, definitely, it’s a welcome development for us, especially [as] for the past several months we’ve been experiencing high [costs of products and services],” Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) President Rosemarie B. Ong told reporters in an interview last week. “[So] we’re looking at full recovery growth this year despite the headwinds.”

According to Ong, the PRA expects a “single-digit” growth this year. She said, though, that “it’s not in the same magnitude or it’s not in the same level as what happened in 2022 where almost all sectors ramped up.”

While the industry’s expansion for this year will taper off, Ong underscored that the market will “still experience growth organically.”

She attributed this to the resiliency of Filipino retailers and the increased consumption that drives the economy.

“As we see now, if you go to the malls, it’s like going back to prepandemic levels. hopefully, it will continue to improve,” she said.

The PRA president cited reports showing that some sectors have already reached the 2019 growth levels; but others are still grappling with the impact of the pandemic like garments, which is very fragmented due to competition with the online marketplace.

As a whole, retail “grew more than the GDP [gross domestic product]” rate, with the food and beverage, as well as home improvement as the strongest categories, Ong noted.

“People continue to spend,” she said. “I also think that home improvement is very resilient because everybody was focused on renovating and improving their homes since during pandemic.”

As the economy reopens, the public is now going out for “revenge travel” that spurs domestic tourism, she pointed out.

“So it will help the MSMEs [micro, small and medium enterprises] because if there is movement, if there’s travel, definitely, it will have a domino effect on the retail business,” Ong said.

‘Oscars’ of retailing

AFTER three years of hiatus, big retailers, top executives and business leaders once again walked down the red carpet to grace the Oscars of Philippine Retailing.

The PRA, together with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI), presented the Outstanding Filipino Retailers (OFR) Awards Special Edition 2023 to honor outstanding individuals and businesses that exhibited strength and responsiveness throughout the Covid-19 crisis.

“This special edition aims to recognize the resilient and unwavering spirit of Filipino retailers during the challenging times of the pandemic, while also acknowledging that invaluable support extended to us by our partners and stakeholders,” Ong said.

With focus on environmental, social and governance (ESG) standards, the awards feted exceptional Filipinos and establishments on the following categories: pandemic resiliency, sustainability and pandemic retail innovation.

Proud of the accomplishments of the winners and finalists, the PRA vowed to continue to champion exemplary performance of the local players in the Philippine retail landscape.

“We remain steadfast in our commitment to fostering a retail environment that promotes and embraces world-class standards and practices, which enables all the Filipino retailers to thrive in the global stage,” Ong said.

For their part, Trade Secretary Alfredo E. Pascual stressed the DTI’s dedication to aid homegrown businesses harness digital and technological capabilities so as to broaden their reach and profitability.

“Further, we assure businesses that DTI will continue to assist them to facilitate MSMEs’ upscaling, upsizing, and upgrading,” he added.