Cebu department stores deploy mobile outlets

If you can't go to the department store, then the department store will go to you.

This is the latest sales strategy of department stores chain Prince Warehouse Club to keep business afloat amid the tough competition in the retail trade.

If in the past, consumers from the provinces needed to travel to the city to buy merchandise, now department store operators are bringing their products to consumers' doorsteps, especially in special occasions like town fiestas.

Prince Warehouse Club chain president Roberto Go said his store would usually go to a certain town to bring house wares, RTW (ready-to-wear), electronic products, among others, a week or two before a town fiesta.

Gaisano Main department store, which also operates the Gaisano Country Mall has also been doing similar retail approach.

According to Go, a truck of merchandise will be transported to a certain town, and display these products to community centers for residents to buy. This brings a mini Prince Warehouse Club department store to towns.

This strategy, he said, has proven to be very effective in widening its market base and improve sales.

Prince Warehouse Club has been doing this mobile retail caravan for some time now, and it is a good sales performance booster, he added.

While the Prince Warehouse Club mobile caravan has only been concentrating in the Cebu province, Go said the company still has no plan to bring this kind of a concept off the island.

He said if the company were to entertain this kind of retail approach in other islands in Visayas and Mindanao, it still has to consider the cost of shipment and labor expenses.

He said Prince Warehouse Club still has to focus on bringing its goods to the different towns in Cebu province, from north to south.

Aside from boosting its retail business, he said consumers in the far-flung towns will benefit easier shopping spree, which saves them transportation money going to the city.

He said the farther the town, the more sales is noted, because consumers in these particular areas do not often go to the city and buy goods in cheaper prices.

Generally, he said, the retail business in Cebu has been performing very well, because of tourism, and quite good economic situation, compared to other regions in the Philippines.

However, he said department operators, or big retailers still have to think of strategies to attract patronage, as competition has increased significantly. (PNA)