SM Investments: Innovating together in the new world
Businesses are emerging reenergized as they embrace creativity and digital transformation in a post-pandemic normal.
Since the onset of COVID-19, SM has reimagined and reinvented ways it can bring its products and services closer to customers. SM is committed to deliver excellent customer experience by combining online shopping experience with its brand of culture and service in its brick-and-mortar spaces. SM’s enhanced digital platforms allow its customers to use a multitude of devices and platforms, and further complement its continued physical expansion, bringing it closer to customers.
One example is THE SM STORE’s Call to Deliver launched in 2020, a hybrid shopping platform that allows customers to get all their daily essentials from their chosen SM STORE branch with the help of a personal shopper. In 2021, Call to Deliver accounted for 10% of total non-grocery sales last year.
For the younger set who are savvy and comfortable about shopping online, SM Retail’s ShopSM gathered fashion items, beauty and personal care products, and other essentials from THE SM STORE in an online shopping portal. ShopSM guarantees secure transactions and offers door-to-door delivery, as well as the option for “click-and-collect” services.
For its essential food business, SM Markets Online provides a one-stop grocery shopping platform to customers in Metro Manila, Cebu, Davao and other key cities in Luzon and Visayas. The platform offers an assortment of wet and dry market goods as well as offerings from house brand SM Bonus. SM Markets Online is also available through the ShopSM App.
“With the reopening of the economy, we see a continued increase in brick-and-mortar visits leading to an increase in mall foot traffic which we already saw in the latter half of 2021 and still see today. We will continue to invest in online technology and activity as we see e-commerce growing even more long-term,” SM Investments Corporation President and Chief Executive Officer Frederic C. DyBuncio said during SM’s annual stockholders’ meeting.
On BDO Unibank’s part, it continues to invest in digital infrastructure to make services more accessible, easier to use and operationally efficient. It launched BDO Pay, the country’s first bank-backed mobile wallet. Aside from having functionalities like send money, pay bills, and request money, BDO Pay cardholders can scan to pay, split bills, and manage and secure their accounts.
Among its portfolio investments, 2GO Group, SM’s logistics firm, is looking forward to the revival of travel and tourism. Aside from modernizing its fleet, 2GO ships upgraded their onboarding experience both at port terminals and on vessels.
Its other logistics company Airspeed started its digital transformation even before the pandemic. It launched several services ranging from online gifting to online pickup and deliveries to help micro, small and medium entrepreneurs and global Filipinos.
“As we adapt to our customers’ preferences, we will combine our strengths in both the physical and online spaces, and innovate further into the future to serve our customers better,” Mr. DyBuncio said.
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