In October 1958, SM, then known as Shoemart, was nothing but a lone store along Rizal Avenue in downtown Manila. Fifty-seven years later, it has become a part of the lives of millions of Filipinos across the country and abroad. And with more than half a century of retail experience under its belt, SM Retail once again received the Gold Award as the Philippines’ Top Retailer at the recently held Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 Awards.
Each year, Retail Asia Publishing recognizes the largest and most outstanding retail companies in the 14 Asia-Pacific economies. Three retailers stand our from the pack and receive Gold, Silver and Bronze awards. SM Retail has consistently been a Gold recipient, while Puregold Price Club and Mercury Drug Corporation received the Silver and Bronze Awards, respectively.
Two other companies affiliated with the SM Group, Watsons Philippines and Ace Hardware also received Certificates of Distinction during the awarding ceremony.
Retail Asia Publisher Andrew Yeo commended the retailers that made it in the Retail Asia-Pacific Top 500 list for having “risen to the many challenges confronting the industry, reviewing and revamping their operation to provide seamless shopping experiences for today’s highly connected shoppers.”
Since its establishment, SM Store has undergone major transformations to serve a new generation of customers. SM Makati introduced the shop-in-shop concept wherein each category is designed and conceptualized like an individual boutique with its own look and feel.
Here, elements work together to create a bolder, more innovative kind of retail environment, which highlights and defines the merchandise, engaging the elite customer to experience a new sense of space.
Apart from the SM Store, SM’s Retail Group also has specialty store formats that serve niche markets by focusing on a wide selection of merchandise for each category. Part of this is the Food Retail Group, which recently unified its three formats – SM Supermarket, SM Hypermarket, and Savemore – under one brand name known as SM Markets to emphasize the group’s commitment to bring the same friendly service, wide selection, and great value across all its stores.
The Non-Food Group, on the other hand, has store formats including appliance stores, fashion discount and toy superstores, as well as Kultura Filipino, a showcase of the best Filipino products.
“You have not only proven yourselves to be adaptable and versatile, but also able to win and maintain the critical core value that all retailers must nurture in their drive to win and retain their customers – trust,” said Yeo.
