Business News

COVID-19 has shifted retail consumer behavior towards the digital domain. We see in the aftermath, online shops continue to increase in trading volume, whereas retailers that rely on customer footfall have been significantly affected. 

The realignment of working practices, personal lifestyles or consumer purchasing behavior represent a seismic shift in the retail industry – the pandemic has given an opportunity to businesses who chose to leverage on technology and digital pathways to deliver consumer-centric solutions and has helped accelerate the transformation of a company and an industry to become better at meeting customers’ needs. ‘Philip Morris Asia Limited believes digital transformation is about creating value for our partners in a digital world. This is why we are transforming by applying innovation and technology in our business model to streamline the traditional retail operations. The Digital Trade Engagement platform we launched earlier is a great example of how we turn a challenging situation into an engine of transformation’, said Brett Cooper, General Manager—Hong Kong & Macau, Philip Morris Asia Limited.

Because of social distancing and protection of our sales force, they have been conducting their work remotely most of the time this year. The level of agility, flexibility and responsiveness of this platform has helped them and our trade partners to stay connected seamlessly despite not being able to meet in person. Technology not only enables us to keep our business running as usual under different circumstances, but also drive efficiency along the way.

‘The platform is very user-friendly, I can find detailed product information and industry related news to stay informed of current affairs. It also gives me the flexibility to place orders anytime I want so I can improve inventory control and enhance cash flow management’, said Ms Ng, the owner of a hawker store at Wan Chai. 

We acknowledge retailers with traditional in-person strategies may find the transition challenging, and that is why we provide all the technical support they need to ensure our retail partners won’t feel lost or discouraged. To facilitate the adoption process, our sales force prepared a manual detailing the set-up and also a video illustrating all available functions on the platform. They are also welcome to call our sales representatives or customer service team should they encounter a technical issue or have any questions regarding our products. We are extremely happy to see the majority of our retailers appreciate the changes and are now an active user of the platform. 

COVID-19 transforms the business world permanently and our digital transformation for business will ensure our success in this brave new world. 
 

Article courtesty of Philip Morris Asia Limited

Posted on 2020/06/02