MANILA, Philippines - The SM Retail Group received the Best of the Best Award during the 2009 Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 Awards held recently at the COEX Intercontinental Hotel in Seoul, Korea, highlighting its leadership not only in the Philippines, but also in the Asia-Pacific region.

This was the second consecutive year that the SM Retail Group was named the Best of the Best, and the sixth year in a row that SM won the Gold Award as the Philippines’ Top Retailer. The SM Department Store also received the Country Award for the Philippines by the Federation of Asia Pacific Retailers Association during the closing ceremonies of the 14th Asia Pacific Retailers Convention and Exhibition also in Seoul, Korea.

The top three retailers from each of the countries in the Asia-Pacific region were awarded Gold, Silver, and Bronze awards during the event; and the Best of the Best were selected from the Gold Awardees. Local retailers cited included Mercury Drug and Rustans, which won the Silver and Bronze Awards, respectively, for the Philippines.

“The 2009, Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 Ranking was a pleasant surprise in that the combined sales turnover of the region’s top 500 retailers has expanded instead of contracting in the wake of what has been widely regarded as the world’s gravest economic turmoil,” says Steven HL Goh, executive chairman of Retail Asia Publishing Pte Ltd. “Total sales turnover grew at a sterling double digit rate of 13.7 percent.”

While one of the reasons for this better-than-expected performance “is that the region’s retailers had not yet felt the full brunt of the economic storm,’ Goh emphasizes that “ this does not detract from the extent of the achievement of all those Asia-Pacific retailers who had made it to this year’s Top 500 ranking.”

“As a retailer, change is in our DNA,” says Teresita Sy-Coson, president of SM’s Non-Food Retail Group. “We always innovate and make everything new and exciting.”

After years of highlighting basic merchandise at very affordable prices, the SM Department Store, which lies at the heart of SM’s retail group, has returned to its fashion roots. Changes in the marketplace have prompted the company to become a fashion store once more.

The change is evident in the store’s merchandise, which has more mastige brands or designer fashion items, allowing customers to transform runway looks into reality. Renovations of premiere stores and exciting design concepts in new stores have added a contemporary feel to the shopping experience. Innovative tie-ups, on the other hand, like those of Philippine Fashion Week, seem to be bringing SM closer to its goal. (But see my comments below on their lack of internet use, mapping store locations, store directory of merchants and contact information including cyberzone a internet favorite, new supermarket models below)

At the same time, SM continues to be known for affordable lifestyle shopping for fashion, for the home, for gadgets , for children and babies. The store has the widest assortment of merchandise in the country, ranging from basic items for everyday needs to fashion items for discriminating shoppers, making it top of mind when people think of shopping.

SM, which has 36 branches nationwide, has become part of the lives of many Filipinos, not only because of its merchandise but also because of its one stop shopping experience and service. Customers also go to the store to pay their utility and bankcard bills, buy tickets for the hottest shows in town, and exchange foreign currency.

It also has a rewards program that offers perks and services to more than four million members. Prestige card members have a lounge in premium stores where they can relax in between shopping and get special services. My comment: You get one point for 4 spent, while Metro department stores gives you one point for every peso spent? But SM does give 10 percent discount on some sales and other benefits to card holders)
Read the original article here http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=518686&publicationSubCategoryId=66

My comment:

I often wonder why the stores here like Ayala, SM and Robinsons and lots of their tenants don't use the web more with most affluent shoppers here in the Philippines now having an active online surfing with places like facebook and even TV getting online. Setting up a website or blog is so cheap and easy to change or update if someone in authority made sure it happened. And customers would apprciate the ability to see complete lines of merchandise or specials for the week. One store in the USA and many parts of the world is Aldai and I wonder why they have not surfaced yet here in the Philippines as they would be excellent for small store locations with only limited items but quality at a low price.

SM does not even have a active functioning website to assist its many customers in the stores it has in its many malls and the contact information or maps online where their malls are or the contact even for their management at their many malls. That is really strange seeing they are opening the Cyber Zones which is internet based. Strange for the largest mall leader in the Philippines. They should take a look at Metro's nice site and also Aldai's

A model for SM, Ayala, Metro, Robinsons to design the website and open new franchise Aldais Read more here

SM Malls need to have a directory online of stores in their mall

Many google searches are done trying to locate businesses, their websites and their phone numbers and even if they have a yahoo messenger name to contact instantly with them. SM being the largest mall operator in the Philippines is a innovator but is missing a valuable tool for their mall stores to allow online customers an easy directory to contact them.

Read my blog posting about this here http://smmalls.blogspot.com/

Years ago SM Cebu featured a series of full page ads telling the contact details of their tenant renting stores with store floor location map and a phone directory so customers could easily contact the stores to ask about merchandise, stocks or other details.

But when you do a search online seeking what stores are in the Cyberzone which is an outstanding feature of SM, nothing shows up in search. Such a disappoint and loss of sales for the stores that pay rent at the Cyberzone. Read the complete blog by clicking the link above