Handyman and True Value maintain e-stores in Lazada, Southeast Asia's leading e-commerce platform. "We are seeing good turnover of sales from our marketplace site, Lazada," the company said.
This is even more pronounced for True Value, which saw online sales more than double during the quarantine period. "The Covid-19 pandemic showed us the importance of e-commerce," True Value stated.
To further expand their reach, the two home improvement companies also instituted a call-and-collect service where buyers can call the branches nearest to them for their home improvement needs and have them delivered to their doorstep through third-party courier service providers. "Health and safety products, along with kitchen and food preparations, are in demand," RRHI stated.
RRHI is part of the Gokongwei-owned JG Summit group, which has interests in aviation, real estate, retail, hospitality, petrochemicals, food manufacturing and banking, among others. The conglomerate is one of the biggest in the Philippines.
Parts of the Philippines had been placed under an extreme lockdown from mid-March to the end of May. After a brief relaxation of the stay-at-home rules on account of the damage the economy incurred during the shutdown, Metro Manila, the capital, was again placed under strict restrictions in the first two weeks of August. As of August 23, the Philippines registered close to 200 000 Covid-19 infections - 107 000 in Metro Manila - with nearly 3 000 deaths.
The Philippines plunged into its first recession in 29 years after its economy shrank 16.5 per cent in the second quarter. In the first quarter, the country recorded a 0.7 per cent contraction, the first time it had done so in 22 years.