Exatech celebrates 25-year partnership with Whirlpool Philippines When it comes to reliable home and business appliances, Filipinos truly prefer world-class and trusted appliance brands for their excellent quality, dependability, and impressive performanc
Twenty-five years ago, Excellence Appliance Technologies, Inc. (Exatech), then Philippine retailer of home appliances, initially recognized the rising demand in the local market, which prompted the company to establish a partnership with esteemed American home appliance brand Whirlpool as early as 1992.
“Back then, Exatech founder and president Nixon Sioco wanted to provide Filipinos with quality high-grade US appliances as they really trusted the durability of American brands. However, these were only available in Duty Free outlets or directly shipped from abroad,” said Chris Sioco, Sales Director of Exatech.
Responding to the massive demand for US-grade appliances, Exatech started to exclusively distribute Whirlpool products to accommodate more customers who are interested in the heavy-duty style washers and side-by-side no-frost refrigerators back then.
Since then, Exatech has evolved from a simple appliance retailer to the award-winning appliance distributor it is today.
Currently, Whirlpool products are made available
through Exatech’s network of more than 80 national and local appliances dealers with around 400 retail outlets nationwide. They also have a network of over 200 authorized service providers to cater to the after-sales support of all the appliances they sell.
“The company has grown quite a bit in the past few years, this can be attributed to the number of brands that we now carry alongside Whirlpool. Among the factors that contributed to Exatech’s success is the focus that the company has in developing these brands,” Sioco said. “Exatech is focused on ensuring the internal structures function effectively to make the business successful. We make sure we have a good support group like warehouse and logistics, after-sales service, and marketing and sales to guarantee smooth operations. In the last few years, we have also invested in a few warehouses and have solidified our service center network, all for the sake of helping the business grow.”
Sioco added that while Exatech has been growing steadily for the past five years, they are still constantly looking for dynamic opportunities for expansion, particularly with Whirlpool.
“We cannot remain passive as the other brands are very aggressive and we can only keep in step with them or run faster than them,” Sioco said. However, Sioco also admitted that Exatech and Whirlpool both had to overcome multiple challenges in the industry, especially in the past two years.
“The massive rise of inverter technology forced us to come out with our own inverter products to compete with the several Chinese, Japanese and Korean brands who recently entered the industry. At the same time, the change in the US’s political landscape has given rise to the dollar which meant we had to adapt and become more cost-conscious,” said Sioco.
Hailing milestones
To commemorate the Exatech and Whirlpool’s enduring 25 years of partnership, the two companies introduced several exciting products this year including: The Better than Inverter Refrigerator, an energy efficient, deepfreeze technology equipped, thick door refrigerator with twin
cooling gel (better cooling performance than inverter types) and 7-Day Garden Fresh Active Deo (guarantees that food is always fresh); and The Bloom Wash Washing Machine Series, which is equipped with the Bloom Wash Agitator (better rollover/wash performance), Hot Wash Capability (anti-bacterial with better dirt and stain removal) and Hard Water Wash.
While Whirlpool used to be one of the more expensive brands in the market, it has adapted to compete with the more competitively priced products that are now widely available.
“We try to source from Whirlpool factories in Asia and nearby countries to reduce costs and consumers can experience the US-quality that Whirlpool is known for at affordable prices. At the same time, as the market highly prefers inverter appliances, Exatech will soon be coming out with more models for the Side-by-Side Inverter Refrigerator line as well as the Top Load and Front Load Washers with Inverter features,” said Sioco.
According to Exatech president, Nixon Sioco, “True to our name, our company, Excellence Appliance Technologies, Inc., is founded on excellence in appliance retailing and customer service. Whirlpool is highly instrumental in helping us build on this foundation of excellence. Rest assured that we will continue to strengthen our partnership with them and help more Filipinos enjoy greater value through Whirlpool appliances.”
“Our aim is to bring Whirlpool to every home not only here in the Philippines but also to the whole world. We want to bring ease and comfort to every family everywhere through our products,” said Blanco Wong, managing director of Whirlpool Southeast Asia. “I’m proud and happy to say that in our 25 years of being partners with Exatech, Whirlpool has consistently garnered consumer confidence and secured its reputation for quality, durability and dependability here in the Philippines.”