WITH GLOBAL CONTAINER WOES, RETAILERS TOLD TO STRATEGIZE

THE Philippine Retailers Association (PRA) urges retailers to strategize as the lead time in procuring and building their inventory has been prolonged due to the global container shortage.

PRA President Rosemarie B. Ong told reporters at the PRA Q2 2022 General Membership Meeting on Thursday, “I think the lead time has been prolonged. So retailers have to strategize.”

In the case of Wilcon Depot, Ong, who’s also the Senior Executive Vice President-chief Operating Officer of Wilcon Depotinc. said, “we double our orders, we make sure we have items on the shelves.”

Wilcon Depot, the Philippines’s leading home improvement and construction supply retailer, won the 2022 Retail Asia Awards for Domestic Retailer of the Year category.

The prestigious award recognizes the retailers that are able to navigate their way through industry challenges such as the everchanging customer demand and e-commerce boom, while delivering exceptional value to consumers and maintaining healthy revenues.

In relation to lead time, Ong explained the situation: “For example,before, two weeks, [but that has turned to] one month [now] it has doubled.” But the PR A leader emphasized that the lead time also depends on the origin of the orders.

After the slowdown of economic activities during the twoyear pandemic, “Suddenly, all the economies are ramping up, the orders are coming in.”

Ong stressed that the logistics issues have been affecting everybody, adding that “it’s a world container shortage” because the world is ramping up already.

She also cited the challenges on fuel. Since fuel plays a crucial role in logistics, it affects the entire supply chain, the PRA head said, noting that it’s a domino effect.

Last month, Philippine Exporters Confederation Inc. (Philexport) President Sergio R. Ortizluis Jr. told the Businessmirror in a text message that many shipping lines did not field many of their boats during the pandemic. In fact, as of last month, some are still not in full operation.

The Philexport chief noted that priority is being given to bigger economies that can guarantee bigger volumes. Meanwhile, Ortiz-luis said, developing countries must wait in line and pay higher costs.

On price increases, Ong noted that since the cost of fuel increased, some retailers were forced to resort to price increases. “So what’s happening now is you pass on based on the cost. Let’s say you have inventory, of course you pass it. The prices of the incoming batch are affected.”

Some factories are also affected because of the cost of raw materials, according to Ong. “We cannot generalize everything. It depends on the sector, where the source is coming from.”