The COVID-19 pandemic has rewritten the rules of retail. With quarantine restrictions forcing people to stay at home, and safety protocols limiting ease of movement in accessing everyday needs, brick-and-mortar stores have quickly turned to online channels to keep business going. At the frontline of this digital shift are the retail heavyweights – legacy grocers and supermarkets who supply people with their everyday staples.
Fisher Supermarket, the grocery superstore in Quezon City and Malabon that offers the freshest seafood at palengke prices, has also stepped up its online presence, with the launch of its dedicated ecommerce website–the all-new FisherSupermarket.ph.Customers can now access the website and do their virtual grocery shopping, through same-day or next-day express delivery anywhere in Metro Manila.
Among existing online groceries in the country, FisherSupermarket.ph offers the largest selection of products from a single source, clustered into 18 categories – from bakery, to wines and spirits, health and beauty, homecare, pantry staples, pet care, confections, pharmacy to fresh meat, seafood and produce. What’s remarkable is its fresh catch of day that you can buy on the day it was harvested by Fisher’s heritage business, Irma Fishing. Truly, the first “sea-to-table” online service in the metro.
Then there’s the added convenience.Fisher Supermarket has also carried over its free extra services in its fresh section – such as seafood preparation (descaling, slicing, cleaning), and fresh produce handpicked by its professional personal shoppers. Order before 12 noon & you may have your orders delivered the same day.
The new FisherSupermarket.ph is an ecommerce-enabled enterprise by BarapidoMart, the online retail brand of Barapido Inc. From being a marketplace for local contemporary Filipino heritage products in 2018 and an online grocer during the ECQ, BarapidoMart has transformed into a complete, end-to-end online retail management specialist for businesses that want to go online and grow their market base.
With services such as merchandising, management of payment gateways, customer service, content marketing, and social media management, all the way to order fulfillment and shipping – BarapidoMart sees the process through – from purchase to checkout, to transporting the ordered items straight to customers’ doorsteps.
This seamless capability in retail fulfillment stems from BarapidoMart’s affiliation with one of the leading 3RD party logistics providers in the country–the Logistikus Group. Logistikus currently operates a multichannel management platform covering retailing and store operations, fulfillment and order management at multiple locations, as well as shipping and fleet operations. In 30 months of mobilization, the group has acquired 47 engagements from 27 principals, providing last mile delivery to online businesses, and working directly with manufacturers and retailers for their logistics requirements.
With COVID-19 permanently changing consumer behavior and driving more people to buy online, businesses have to contend with the attendant challenges of e-tailing from unreliable delivery, to poor customer service, inefficient inventory distribution, and competition from multiple service providers. What is critical to e-commerce success is choosing a fulfillment service that balances customer convenience and operational efficiency through a well-structured physical logistics operations. This is the only way to meet emerging customer expectations and not just adapt, but thrive in the next normal.
