Philippines: Alfamart reaches 900 store milestone amid quarantine

One of the biggest adjustments Alfamart has implemented to deal with the pandemic was establishing cashless payments in all 900 stores.

Alfamart, the first and only Super Minimart chain in the Philippines, recently opened its 900th store in Valdez, Floridablanca, Pampanga. Alfamart hoped to have this milestone store opening to coincide with its anniversary in June, but the company had to postpone it due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We needed to realign — to make sure that our frontline staff and employees were safe and well-equipped to deal with the challenges of the pandemic and the accompanying quarantine that came with it,” said Alfamart Philippines COO, Harvey Ong.

“We were fortunate that everyone in Alfamart adjusted well to the situation,” Ong continued. “We were eventually able to get our legs under us and continue with our plans to expand our operations further into Central and South Luzon,” he shared.

One of the biggest adjustments Alfamart implemented was establishing cashless payments in all 900 stores. Currently, they are accepting GCash and are planning to accommodate more cashless options in the future.

Alfamart, a joint venture between SM and Alfamart Indonesia, is one of Indonesia’s leading mini-market chain operators with more than 15,000 branches across the country. With success in Indonesia, Alfamart ventured overseas and started operating in Philippines.