Duty Free ties up with Speed Regalo

MANILA, Philippines — Duty Free Philippines Corp. (DFPC) is entering the online shopping market, linking up with Speed Regalo in a bid to boost its sales.

DFPC recently signed a memorandum of agreement with Speed Regalo, making the latter its official online shopping service provider through the establishment of a Duty Free Philippines website.

Speed Regalo general manager Jose Carlo Medina said the partnership has two phases, the first of which involves the pick-up of products at the airport.

“So, if you have yet to arrive in the Philippines, you have the ability to order in the online store and as soon as you arrive in the country, you will just pick it up,” Medina said.

He said the second phase of the project involves ordering the product online and having it delivered to an off-airport location when the buyer arrives in the country.

DFPC deputy chief operating officer Bernardine Belmonte said the company opted to partner with an online shopping services provider as it has no expertise in e-commerce.

“Speed Regalo gave us the best offer, the best model on how to execute our e-commerce site,” Belmonte said.

He said the company does not expect that much of a boost in sales next year since it is just at the beginning of its e-commerce venture, but hopes for a five to 10 percent increase in sales in 2020 when it gains experience.

DFPC chief operating officer Vicente Angala said it has chosen Speed Regalo as its partner since it caters to the OFW market, similar to the DFPC brand.

Angala earlier said the company is targeting to hit P280 million in sales next year, mainly driven by the Chinese market.

For this year, the company is targeting to generate P226 million in revenues, lower than its initial target of P260 million.

Angala explained that the company lowered its revenue target for this year due to the delays in the opening of some of its stores.

He said Duty Free Luxe in the Mall of Asia complex should have opened December last year but only opened last month.

DFPC’s airport outlets also incurred delays in its opening dates. Among these stores are the Ninoy Aquino International Airport Terminal 3 outlet, which should have opened last year, but was opened in July, and its branch in Terminal 2 of the Mactan Cebu International Airport.

The company earlier reported that it generated over P4.1 million in total sales in Duty Free Luxe’s soft opening from Oct. 17 to 24.

“This is a good indication of Duty Free Luxe’s robust sales performance until the holiday season,” Angala said.

“We are optimistic that sales performance will continue to rise when we do our grand opening in the first quarter of 2019 and as we develop the store’s awareness to the public,” Angala added.

DFPC earlier signed agreements with mobile payment providers WeChat and Alipay in a bid to better reach the Chinese tourist market.