Watsons Philippines opening 90 new stores in 2025

MANILA, Philippines — Health and beauty retailer Watsons Philippines is further expanding its footprint in the country by opening 90 new stores next year.

Sharon Decapia, senior assistant vice president for marketing, public relations and sustainability at Watsons Philippines, said in a media roundtable yesterday that the company aims to open a total of 90 new stores next year.

For this year, she said the target is to open 80 stores.

So far, Decapia said the company has opened around 50 new stores this year.

At present, there are over 1,100 Watsons’ stores in the country.

The Philippines is playing an important role in Watsons’ global expansion as it serves as the home of the retailer’s 8,000th store, which recently opened at the SM Mall of Asia.

“Our strategy is to really grow and accelerate in the community stores,” Decapia said.

The expansion will be undertaken all over the country as the retailer wants to make its products more accessible to the Filipino consumer.

WATSON PASA FROM B3

In line with efforts to better serve customers, Watsons Philippines is accelerating the availability of products, from medicines to beauty items.

“In our internal discussions, we’ve identified specifically the frequently asked medicines and we have made efforts to really make sure that the prescription is fulfilled,” Decapia said.

She said the retailer has expanded its premium and Korean beauty product offerings.

Watsons Philippines customer director Jared De Guzman said the retailer is also rolling out queue-busting innovations starting with the self-check counter available at the SM MOA store.

“We know the lines are long at Watsons and even just hiring more people is not going to cut it anymore,” he said.

The retailer is also planning to have more stores operating 24/7 to add to the one located along EDSA in Guadalupe.

Watsons Philippines is a joint venture of A.S. Watson Group and SM Prime Holdings Inc.

Decapia said Watsons Philippines’ revenues have been posting double-digit growth for the past five years, with bulk accounted for by physical stores and around 10 percent coming from online transactions.