BPO employees drive growth of convenience stores

MANILA, Philippines - More convenience stores are expected to open in the country to take advantage of strong consumer spending, a top executive of a property consultancy firm said over the weekend.

Colliers International research manager Karlo Pobre told reporters that even if there are many convenience stores in the country’s major business districts and information technology centers, more are still expected to open to serve middle class employees, particularly those in the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector.

“The market is not saturated yet mainly because of the BPO sector. The closest retail store they (BPO employees) can get into is a convenience store,” Pobre said.

The improvement in the income of these individuals is leading to  increased spending which will encourage the expansion of convenience stores.

“You can just imagine that all buildings will have their own convenience stores,” he said.

Among the players in the country’s convenience store market are 7-Eleven, run by Philippine Seven Corp.; Ministop Philippines under the Robinsons Retail Group; and FamilyMart operated by a joint venture of Japanese firms FamilyMart Co., Ltd. and Itochu Corp. with SIAL CVS Retailers of the Rustan’s Group and Ayala Land Inc.

7-Eleven, currently has 900 outlets nationwide, 323 of which are in Metro Manila.

It plans to open 100 more stores nationwide this year.

Ministop has over 330 stores in the country, 66 percent of which are located in Metro Manila.

FamilyMart, which entered the Philippine market earlier this year, is aiming to open 40 new outlets by year-end.

With the huge market potential here, Pobre said an Asian retail firm has indicated interest to open a chain of convenience stores in the country.

“We have the capacity to absorb the entry (of the new convenience store),” he said.