Selling health and beauty anytime, anywhere
Inquirer.net At the height of the COVID-19 public health crisis when RT-PCR testing facilities were bursting at the seams, health and beauty retailer Watsons Philippines stepped up to the plate by making available antigen test kits to lockdown-weary Filipinos.
We were the first pharmacy to sell test kits, recalls Jared de Guzman, Watsons Philippines customer director. We were actually predicting that the testing facilities will not have enough channels to be able to test millions of Filipinos.
The first batch of test kits ran out of stock right away.
Twenty years since setting up shop in the Philippines, Watsons, in partnership with leading conglomerate SM group, has established itself as a formidable player in health and beauty retailing. Growing its footprint to more than 1,000 stores and serving hundreds of thousands of customers each day since then, Watsons plans to open about a hundred more new stores every year while likewise maximizing digital platforms.
During the pandemic, and then postpandemic, we have seen that customers have been taking their health more seriously, De Guzman says. As Pinoys picked up the habit of taking vitamins and supplements since then, Watsons is both a witness and beneficiary.
