The ICA-AP Committee on Consumer Cooperation organised a webinar on ‘Effective Operation of the Small-Medium Scale Coop Stores: An Introduction to New Generation Stores in the Philippines’ on 25 August 2021. The webinar focused on small-medium scale stores and their role in promoting and strengthening the cooperative identity. It was co-hosted by VICTO National, ICA member from the Philippines and was attended by participants from India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, Palestine, Philippines and South Korea.
In his opening remarks, Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director, ICA-AP congratulated the committee for organising webinars on themes around the cooperative identity. The first webinar, in June, focused the contribution of consumers’ cooperatives and small and medium scale stores to local communities. Mr. Haruyoshi Amano, Chairperson of the Committee welcomed the participants and noted that the objective of the webinar was to share the works of C&S Co-op Supermart, the new generation supermarkets in the Philippines. The new generation supermarkets offer a significant model for the development of cooperative stores. They are an important feature of consumers’ cooperatives, determined to serve local communities by keeping people at the centre of its vision and operations.
Mr. Dudz Samson, Brand consultant, C&S Co-op Supermart; and Ms. Rowena Obordo-Lazarte Brand Manager, C&S Co-op Supermart were the speakers at the webinar. They presented the history and concept of new generation supermarkets and shared insights on the store performance and achievements. Some of the successful strategies adopted by the C&S Co-op Supermart were: prioritising customer needs and feedback, incentives to members, standardizing the cooperative brand, and supplying members’ products along with private products. Mr. Samson noted that, “our dream is not just to sell products. Our dream is to promote and sell members’ products.” This special emphasis on members made them stand out in the market in comparison to other private supermarkets.
The participants interacted enthusiastically during the open session and were interested in knowing more about the tax incentives, operational policies related to wages, member-non-member customer ratio, etc. It was highlighted that credit cooperatives were encouraged to expand their scope to consumer products and serve the day-to-day needs of the members as well as the larger community. During the COVID-19 pandemic, C&S Co-op Supermart started free delivery services for the elderly and people with disabilities and introduced loyalty points for customers. The model of C&S Co-op Supermart was well received by the participants who recognised the growing need for multi-stakeholder cooperative models to address the multi-dimensional needs of the people. The model places members, workers and consumers at the centre of the vision and policies of the cooperative. ICA members in South Korea and Malaysia were interested in holding discussions on consumers’ cooperatives to exchange best practices and knowledge around new generation stores.
C&S Co-op Supermart plans to organise a retail cooperative conference in the Philippines next year and participants were invited to strengthen cooperation among cooperatives in the Asia-Pacific region.
