Puregold Price Club, Inc.
Executive Summary
I. Introduction
II. Strategy Planning
Puregold Price Club, Inc. is a chain of supermarkets which offers a wide variety
of general merchandise and a full-service supermarket with wholesale. Unlike
other Puregold stores, Puregold Price Club offers wholesale in merchandise.
Puregold has Puregold Jr., which is a neighborhood store which offers targeted
consumers’ items and limited variety of general merchandise, without the
wholesale operations. On the other hand, Puregold Extra offers a very limited
number of Stock Keeping Units at discounted prices., provides consumers with
a discount on time, not just on the price.
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Lucio L. Co, Chairman
Susan P. Co, Chairman
Ferdinand Vincent P. Co, President
Leonardo B. Dayao, Director
Pamela Justine P. Co, Director
Jack Huang, nominee for regular director
Marilyn V. Pardo, Independent Director
Edgardo G. Lacson, Independent Director
Jaime S. Dela Rosa, Independent Director
SHAREHOLDING STRUCTURE
As of September 30, 2019, the shareholding structure of the Company is as
follows:
Percentage Ownership Number of Common
of Common Shares Shares
Lucio L. Co Group 65% 1,878,068,166
Public 35% 1,006,164,449
History of the Business
This chain of supermarkets in the Philippines was established way back in
1998. In the year 1998, Puregold opened its first ever branch in the City of
Mandaluyong. And presently, they have grown into a big retail chain and they
now have 180 stores in the country. Amazingly, they did this for only 14 years.
The company launched a loyalty program in 2001; renamed as Tindahan ni
Aling Puring in 2004. In between the years of 2002 and 2006, they have
launched an average of 3 stores per year and have expanded their operations
in the Northern and Southern part of Luzon.
In 2008, Puregold was branded in Reader’s Digest Asia’s “Most Trusted
Brands” and have introduced a new store format, Puregold Jr. In 2009-2010,
Puregold became the 2nd largest hypermarket and supermarket retailer in the
Philippines as regards to the net sales, in this period of time, they have
introduced the Puregold Extra, a new store format.
In 2011, Puregold Price Club went public and inaugurated as listing on the
Philippine Stocks Exchange. They had a rapid expansion via organic new
Puregold stores roll-out and acquisitions other than that they have made history
by having had acquired the highest number of new store openings ever,
opening 38 new Puregold stores.
In 2012, Puregold opened 31 new Puregold outlet stores and acquired Kareila
Management Corp., which owns S&R Warehouse Membership Shopping Club
with 6 stores and Parco Supermarkets with 19 stores. And those 19 operating
outlets were purchased and converted to Puregold. The shareholders of the
retail chain Puregold have approved the merger of the other two operating units
into the parent company, consolidating Puregold's supermarket businesses
under the publicly listed supermarket operator.
Currently, Puregold is continuing new stores roll-out via organic geographic
expansion and acquisitions. They are targeting to open 25 more Puregold
stores and 1 S&R store.
Vision, Mission, Objectives and Values of Business
Vision
To be the most customer-oriented hypermart offering a one-stop
shopping convenience and best value to our customers.
Sa Puregold, Always Panalo!
Mission
Our mission is to provide products, services, and business
opportunities to every Filipino Family.
We strive to promote the personal and professional development
of our employees.
We establish lasting relationships with our suppliers and business
partners.
We commit profitable results to the stockholders
Sa bawat araw, Puregold kasama mo!
Values
Sense of Belonging
Customer Service
Commitment
Loyalty and Integrity
Dynamism
Nature of Business and its main activities
The advent of one-stop shopping convenience began in 1998 when
PUREGOLD opened its first branch along Shaw Blvd. in Mandaluyong City.
The store offered a wide array of goods from groceries, apparel, household
accessories and furniture at very affordable prices. During that time, the one-
stop shopping philosophy was still a novel idea to consumers but with the
excellent service and quality products it provided, it did not take long for
Puregold to make its mark in the retail industry.
Customers/ Target Market
Today, Puregold is the No. 1 Retailer in the Hypermarket Format in the
Philippines and the No. 2 in Retail Format in the Country. The company has
been catering to more and more Filipinos having over 150 (159) stores
nationwide. They have over 1500 Suppliers and Trade Partners. With their
exemplary services, they are servicing to over 230,000 sari-sari stores and
small businesses in the Metro, various places in the Northern and Southern
parts of Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao. Puregold has completed over 600
million sales transactions.
Location
Rizal cor. Jose Abad Santos Avenues Poblacion Digos City Davao del Sur
Current Stage in its Life Cycle
Past Performance and Key Achievements
2018 Awards
HR ASIA AWARDS
Puregold was honored and proud to be named One of the Best Companies to
Work for In Asia 2018.
As Asia’s most authoritative publication for HR professionals, HR Asia holds
the annual HR Asia Awards. The first-ever HR Asia Awards for the
Philippines’ best companies to work for was held last 2018.
DTI BAGWIS AWARDEES
Puregold was the proud recipient of 51 Bagwis in 2018, including 41 Gold
Bagwis.
The DTI- Bagwis Program gives due recognition to establishments that
upholds the right of consumers while practicing responsible business where
consumers get the best value for money.
Relationship with Key Stakeholders
Looking towards the years ahead, Puregold will continue to invest to the
people, to communities, and to its infrastructure to the benefit of their
stakeholders and every person they serve. In 2019 alone, they have allocated
P5.2 billion for the construction of 39 total Puregold stores, S&R Warehouses,
and S&R quick-service restaurant across the Philippines. At the same time,
they aim to grow same-store sales by three to five percent and expand
consolidated net sales by eight to ten percent across the board.
Competitive Strengths and Weaknesses
Scan the Environment
External Environment Analysis
General Environment
This external analysis is detrimental to the discovery and identification
of the opportunities and threats of the company. With regards to the
macroenvironmental forces and factors, that is to the socio-cultural,
demographic, lifestyle changes, technological developments, economic
developments and advancements, ecological aspects, and political and
governmental-legal aspects.
Political
Plastic Bag Ban
Manila City Ordinance 8282, once implemented, will ban the use of
plastic bags for dry goods and regulate their use for wet goods, and altogether
bans polystyrene (Styrofoam) as container for food, produce and other
products.1 To date, at least 90 cities and towns have passed ordinances
banning or regulating the use of plastic bags, with several more local
government units (LGUs) poised to follow suit before the end of the year,
according to EcoWaste Coalition.
Senate Bill No. 2759 – Total Plastic Bag Ban
March 8, 2011
“AN ACT PROHIBITING THE USE OF PLASTIC BAGS IN GROCERIES,
RESTAURANTS, AND OTHER ESTABLISHMENTS, AND PROVIDING
PENALTIES FOR VIOLATIONS THEREOF “
Relevance:
The Senate Bill No. 2579 or the Total Plastic Bag Ban aims to prohibit
the use of plastic bags in establishments. The company has been using plastic
bags to package the customers’ purchases. It is both a threat and opportunity
for the company. One bad thing this would do to the company is how the
company would dispose of the remaining plastic bags unused prior to the
passed laws. Also, the source of new manufacturers for their paper bags or
ecobags. Although the law only overs some cities, it still affects the company
because most cities covered by the law are in the NCR. Most branches of
Puregold are within this area and surely there would be drastic measures to be
taken to surpass this. The good side is they can minimize garbage wastes. This
is an opportunity for the company to inculcate new marketing schemes to
increase profit.
Economic factors
Economic Advancement
Both developed and emerging markets of Asia are seen to grow faster
than the Euro area and North America. Expected to have the fastest growth in
2013 and 2014 are China (7.7 and 7.3 percent, respectively), the Philippines (7
and 6.7 percent), India (4.9 and 6 percent), Indonesia (5.6 and 5.5 percent) and
Vietnam (5.5 and 5.6 percent).
All fast-growers in Asia have big populations upward of 90 million. The banks
polled recognize that a larger population means more entrepreneurs and
workers, more producers and consumers.
Socio cultural trends and lifestyle changes
Online Marketing
Internet marketing, or online marketing, refers to advertising and
marketing efforts that use the Web and email to drive direct sales via electronic
commerce, in addition to sales leads from Web sites or emails.2 Internet
marketing and online advertising efforts are typically used in conjunction with
traditional types of advertising like radio, television, newspapers and
magazines. Internet marketing can also be broken down into more specialized
areas such as Web marketing, email marketing and social media marketing:
Web marketing includes e-commerce Web sites, affiliate marketing Web sites,
promotional or informative Web sites, online advertising on search engines, and
organic search engine results via search engine optimization (SEO). Email
marketing involves both advertising and promotional marketing efforts via e-
mail messages to current and prospective customers. Social media marketing
involves both advertising and marketing (including viral marketing) efforts via
social networking sites like Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and Digg.
Relevance:
Online marketing is very much helpful nowadays. Filipinos are using the
internet for averaging from 4-8 hours a day, give or take. The internet is an
inexpensive way of promoting business and increasing profitability.
Online Shopping
The Nielsen report found that among consumers who engaged in e-
commerce activities, 72 percent of online consumers in the Philippines
indicated using the Internet for grocery shopping research over the past month.3
The study also showed that online Filipino consumers were also the
most active in Asia-Pacific to search online for deals. Sixty-one percent of
Filipino consumers have, in fact, done online deal searches during the past
month, compared to only 39 percent in the Asia-Pacific.
The study exposed the Achilles heel of Filipino online consumers,
however, showing that when it comes to online purchase conversion, only 34
percent have made purchases online in the past month compared to 62 percent
in the Asia-Pacific and 49 percent globally.
Relevance:
This trend would be a big opportunity for the company to establish a
store format on the internet. Filipinos nowadays are very fond of buying stuff
from the internet. It is very convenient for the consumer and there is less hassle
in transacting especially most online shopping sites have payment methods
through online banking, Paypal, and whatnot. The main point here is to be the
first online supermarket to cater to all states of life in the Philippines. Another
aim is to sell products and deliver them to the convenience of the customer’s
doorsteps.
Go organic. Healthy living trend
Filipinos are venturing into the healthy living lifestyles. People are
spending more on gym memberships, organic food, and the like. Organically-
grown vegetables are only available in select stores. Since more and more
people are getting into this new kind of diet, people tend to rush to organic
hippie groceries and only buy their food there.
Or from the side effects of packaging. Let me add this, I am a fanatic
when it comes to food storage, I buy every kind of storage container and baggie
(my father was the co-inventor of a lot of canning and packaging like the plastic
ham can and zip lock baggies), but I feel this article has hit the nail on the head
with packaging deriving chemical reactions to things like acid from canned
tomatoes leeching the polymers from the inside of tin cans into the product. I
am not used to the markets here keeping foods unrefrigerated or in the open
for creatures to land on like flies and the like and I have a fit when our kids put
food in the refrigerator uncovered but I honestly feel my health improvements
may just be related to these primitive actions as well as having almost all of my
foods organic, without the high price tag I might add.
I love it here in the Philippines, it isn’t paradise, it’s dirty, in some places
it’s dangerous. It’s not where I’m from but I have come to see what our
esteemed editor in chief along with a myriad of others have come to love about
Living in the Philippines.
Relevance:
The new lifestyles of Filipinos are inspired by their local celebrity idols
who have been promoting healthy living and healthy diet plans to get a better
physique and to stay healthy. This factor is a threat to the company because
some products of the company are now being substituted by a few products
offered by specialty stores. Although only a few percentages of the company’s
market are following this trend, it is still important to look at all the factors that
would affect the company.
Technological development
Credit Card trends
Though cash remains heavily used in day-to-day transactions, ATM
cards continued to be the most important type of financial card in the
Philippines, as cash remained heavily used in day-to-day transactions due to
the large unbanked population and low acceptance of financial cards in retail
stores. Nonetheless, cashless payments further gained popularity due to
banks’, telecommunication companies’ and card operators’ aggressive
advertising and marketing campaigns. As a result, financial cards recorded
moderate growth in terms of the number of cards in circulation, and also volume
and value transactions in 2013.
Relevance:
This trend is a great opportunity for the company. Most consumers would
use cash as a medium of exchange but with the rapid development of
technology, and if this trend would expand to more and more Filipinos,
transactions would go faster and relatively could increase sales due to the
faster service.
Porter’s Five Forces of Competitive Analysis
III. Strategy Formulation
IV. Strategy Implementation
V. Strategy Evaluation