Celebrating a Filipino family’s dream
IF AUGUST is an inauspicious month, at least according to the Chinese, then there is no way but up when opening an appliance store on this month. Testament to this positivity is Emilio S. Lim Appliances (ESLA) — the pioneer in appliance installment in the Philippines — which is preparing for its golden anniversary next year.
For its 49th anniversary celebration, ESLA is bringing back its grand raffle promotion, which will give away three Toyota Vios, 50 units of refrigerators, 40 units of LED televisions, 25 units of washing machines, 10 units of air-conditioners, 30 desk fans, 20 gas stoves, and three Magic Sing karaoke microphones.
The much- awaited annual grand raffle was launched last July 15 and will have its raffle draw scheduled on October 24. “We’re excited about the car promotion because it’s something that people have been wishing to bring back in our anniversary raffle,” says ESLA general manager and CEO Jimmy Lim.
“We started in July because appliance purchases have been very difficult for the past few months. The business is very competitive now. Fortunately, our sales have been picking up and we’ve been getting a lot of good feedback,” he added.
Targeting market segments C, Dan dE, Lim has noticed that it has been difficult for these people to buy appliances. With 101 standalone stores within and a round Metro Manila, ESLA used to grow at a rate of 20 to 25 percent in terms of sales in the past years. It had gone down to 10 percent this year and flat before the anniversary launch.
Lim shares that money has been tight to a lot of Filipino consumers and priority has been given to basic needs, like transportation — motorcycles are a must-have to most families nowadays — and children’s schooling. Remittances have also been very difficult as global gasoline prices continue to drop. Around 14 percent of ESLA’s consumers are OFWs.
On the good side, Lim has noticed a positive trend on the customers’ purchasing habits.“We used to have 40-percent installment and 60-percent cash basis. Now, it’s 25- percent installment and 75-percent cash,” Lim says.
“Our installment market has not been growing as much, mainly because people would rather save and pay cash. There are also a lot of financing companies that are coming in and are relatively giving out very lax financing terms. We may be flat on our installment market but we are growing on cash.”
Also, because of its affordable price tag, ESLA is a lot better than mall dealers. “We try to keep our prices low so we can be able to give the best prices in the market. We’re trying to look at different suppliers who can provide us the best price. We don’t have big stores but we want to keep them compact, complete and full so that there would be a lot of choices for customers,” says Lim.
Nonetheless, the company maintains its position as the leader in appliance installment, in keeping with its mission of making basic appliances within reach of every Filipino family. In fact, the company is very selective with its installment customers, giving more emphasis on repeat customers, which comprise more than half of its installment patrons.
“Most of our customers pay in the store. By doing that, they get rebates. You get a rebate just for coming to the store to pay. You get a rebate by paying on time. And you get a rebate if you pay in advance. We also have a lot of collection promotions. If you pay regularly,
your last payment becomes free or you could purchase another item with zero down payment,” explains Lim, sharing that more than 30 percent of their fully-paying customers reapply because of such promotions.
Lim shares that Filipino families are now more inclined to upgrade their 32-inch LED TVs to 40- to 48-inchers. For refrigerators, the two- door market is improving, although less than 40 percent of families have refrigerators in the country. The most sought-after appliance for this year, according to him, is the air-conditioner, with a growing market on 0.5-, 0.75and 1-hp window-type units. A lot of people are also acquiring laptops.
Aside from the 26 stores scattered in Metro Manila, ESLA houses regional warehouses and mediumsized stores in Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Quezon, Bulacan and Tarlac. Last year, ESLA inaugurated its 101st branch at the company’s very own building in Brgy. Talon, Las Piñas City. The company is renting space for majority of its stores and the branch along Marcos Alvarez St. in Las Piñas marks the company’s new direction of acquiring its own properties.
“We now have 101 stores and just having that is difficult enough. We’re trying to set up depots to cater to different areas — there’s one in Binangonan for Rizal area, one in Cabuyao to cover Laguna, one in Imus for Cavite — so it won’t be difficult for us to get immediate stocks for the different stores. I think that’s one of our biggest advantages because we have a big network. Each store has a support within the10-kilometer radius. Some stores are just four to five kilometers away from each other, depending on the population density in an area,” Lim shares.
In its attempt to further improve its brand of service, the company has started hiring people in communities where its stores are built.
Lim continues, “We have always trained people here in Manila and sent them to the nearby provinces. But now, we’ve been getting more people from the provinces where they live, so that they would be where they work. We give them Manilarate salary, which is a lot better than the provincial rates. We want to standardize everything in terms of wages, as well as product pricing for our customers, store setup and presentation. We hope that when customers move around ESLA stores, they don’t get confused.”
After 49 years, ESLA has become an institution in appliance installment for promising market sectors. And greater than gathering excitement for its annual grand raffle, the company is celebrating another anniversary with Filipino families, its loyal customers, in mind.
“It’s uplifting to see clients coming back, together with their whole families. Appliance is still a luxury to a lot of people. It’s a major decision for families in the lower market segments, and we’ll always try to bring appliances to all segments,” Lim concludes.