More hybrid PLDT stores in the pipeline

MANILA, Philippines — Telco giant PLDT Inc. is bullish on expanding its hybrid stores nationwide to provide its customers a wide array of digital solutions and support services.

PLDT chief revenue officer Al Panlilo said the company is looking to open more PLDT-Smart converged stores across the country, especially in areas seen with strong demand.

In the near term, the company is targeting to have 20 hybrid stores.

Last Thursday, PLDT opened its fourth PLDT-Smart store in the country located at Vertis North in Quezon City.

Other similar stores are located in Bonifacio Global City, Smart Tower in Makati and SM City BF Parañaque.

“It is still an early start of this concept, but we want to offer convenience in one location. So hopefully we can replicate this nationwide. We’ll pick and choose areas where traffic and demand are much greater,” Panlilio said.

The PLDT-Smart converged store is a one-stop hub and digital lifestyle store for PLDT and Smart customers which feature customer-centric design and innovative digital installations.

As a digital hub,  the PLDT-Smart converged store features technologies such as the self-service InfoTouch booth which allows customers to view and print billing summaries, check account details and submit repair requests; the Smart super kiosk which lets customers pay their bills or request a change of SIM card without having to queue; and the broadband visualizer which allows customers to check data usage for different types of online activities as well estimate download and upload times.

“We want to ensure that our customers have access to the best of what we offer by bringing our services closer to them,” PLDT-Smart senior vice president and consumer business customer development head Alex Caeg said.

Panlilio said Quezon City has been a key market for both PLDT and Smart, which is why it was chosen as the latest site of the hybrid store concept.

Quezon City has the second largest subscriber base nationwide for the fixed line business and has the biggest number of wireless subscribers in Metro Manila for PLDT and Smart