Phoenix Petroleum Philippines - Sales Turnaround of the Year

Company: Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc.
Company Description: Phoenix Petroleum Philippines, Inc. is the fastest-growing and leading independent oil company in the country. It was established in Davao City in 2002 as DOTSCO, and was listed in the Philippine Stock Exchange in 2007—the first independent Philippine oil company to do so after the industry was deregulated in 1998. It represents the petroleum group of Udenna Corporation, its parent company.
Nomination Category: Sales Awards Achievement Categories
Nomination Sub Category: Sales Turnaround of the Year

Nomination Title: Para sa customer, only Da Best: Serving Delightful Customer Experience in FamilyMart Philippines

FamilyMart Philippines is the local franchise of the leading Japanese convenience store brand. The company was acquired by homegrown fuel brand, Phoenix Petroleum, in 2017 to serve as its subsidiary offering convenience store products and services.

Since the acquisition, FamilyMart Philippines underwent progressive changes in its operations and marketing in an attempt to reintroduce the brand to the Philippine market, and establish it as a credible alternative to leading convenience store chains in the country.

Most recently, FamilyMart Philippines introduced the convenience food retailing concept in the country, and upgraded its customer experience strategy to set itself apart from its competitors. It entailed putting more focus on food retail, effectively positioning the brand as a dining destination, more than just a stop for daily convenience store items.

Amid the pandemic, FamilyMart Philippines launched the “Para sa Customer Only Da Best “ (For customers, only the best) campaign to create a better product and service experience for its customers in line with the brand’s customer value proposition of delighting the senses. Through the campaign, the brand also aims to turn around the business from the losses it has been experiencing from its previous local franchisee.

To do this, FamilyMart identified four main areas that could be improved to achieve the set goals: introducing new products, improving the store’s look, delivering new retail concepts, and engaging employees.

The brand offered enticing new products that brought positive customer responses for FamilyMart. The Caramel Macchiato, specifically, achieved 85.7% purchase intent from respondents. Purchase intent for FamiChicky was also high at 85%. ChickyPops, meanwhile, got a 90% purchase intent rate.

Due to an improved store look, FamilyMart gained an 18% increase in average daily sales. The transaction count also improved by 10%. The increase in average check was also 22% higher.

The availability of online ordering delivery options, meanwhile, contributed 25% in delivery sales for FamilyMart. Sales from courier partner GrabMart, alone, contributed Php 11.5 million sales to the brand. FamilyMart even earned two nominations in the app’s partner recognition program.

The campaign participation rate for FamilyMart personnel was also high at 100% since all FamilyMart stores actively participated in the My Treat, Fam campaign. The challenges brought significant sales growth and transaction count to the company.

The changes brought greatly affected the brand, its sales, and how it connected to its customers. Despite the setbacks, the business evolved and adapted.

To keep the business going despite the pandemic, and keep up with the new needs of the community, FamilyMart rolled out a customer experience strategy called ‘Para sa Customer, Only Da Best’.

The campaign aimed to change internal processes and external protocols to give an upgraded brand experience to the customers--one that would delight all of their senses, under the new realities that the pandemic presented.

For the first time since FamilyMart was acquired in 2017, it finally registered a positive EBITDA by September 2021–despite the setbacks brought by the pandemic--and has since been going up. This can be attributed to the activities done through the campaign.

Average daily sales growth also increased to 169.3% in 2020-2021 compared to 2018-2019. Gross profit is also higher at 38%, a notable improvement from 32.6% prior to the campaign launch.

On social media, FamilyMart’s campaign for a new and improved customer experience resulted in a 34.5% increase in positive sentiments for the brand based on social listening data.

Overall, the ‘Para sa Customer, Only Da Best’ campaign proved to be an effective initiative by employing creative and innovative activities to achieve the intended goals.