From Small Shops to Smart Stores: Lessons from the Philippines on Launching Cooperative Retail

The International Cooperative Alliance Asia and Pacific (ICA-AP), through its Committee on Consumer Cooperation and with support from the Japanese Consumers’ Co-operative Union (JCCU), organized a regional webinar on 28 October 2026 titled “Learning from Successful Cooperative Store Launches in the Philippines: Effective Strategies for Small Consumer Cooperatives in Establishing and Operating Retail Stores.”

The webinar brought together cooperative leaders, retail experts and practitioners, about 50 participants from seven countries across Asia and the Pacific, to explore how small consumer cooperatives can establish, modernize and operate retail stores. It aimed to introduce the New Generation Stores (NGS) model developed in the Philippines, deepen participants’ understanding of retail governance and operational discipline, and explore opportunities for cross-border trade among cooperatives.

Mr. Sungjoon Kang, Secretary of the ICA-AP Consumer Committee, opened the webinar by welcoming participants and outlining the Committee’s key objectives. Mr. Haruyoshi Amano, former International Department Manager of JCCU, Japan, and Vice Chairperson of the Committee, followed with opening remarks, emphasizing that one of the greatest strengths of the cooperative movement is its ability to learn from one another’s successes and challenges. He highlighted the practical challenges of establishing a retail store, including securing sufficient capital, choosing an appropriate location and training qualified staff, and encouraged participants to adapt the lessons from the Philippines to their own local contexts.

In the first presentation, Mr. Dudz Samson, former CEO of VICTO National, examined the uneven development of cooperatives in the Philippines. While credit cooperatives have achieved remarkable growth, consumer cooperatives have lagged behind. One key reason, he noted, was that retail operations were often treated as a secondary business within the country’s multi-purpose cooperative structure. Consumer stores were frequently relegated to the “other matters” section of board meeting agendas and received insufficient oversight. Other challenges included the lack of industry standards, reliance on manual inventory systems and negative perceptions within local communities.

To address these challenges, Mr. Samson introduced the NGS model, which moves beyond reliance on mainstream commercial brands by prioritizing products made by cooperative members and other cooperatives. He illustrated its commercial potential through eMart, which introduced strict retail standards, computerized systems and distinctive branding. According to the presentation, the store’s average daily sales of PHP 50,000 rose to PHP 800,000 on its opening day. NGS also builds the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) into daily operations through dedicated checkout lanes for senior citizens, farm-to-table sourcing, plastic reduction and compliance with fair labor standards.

The second presenter, Ms. Ma. Rowena Lazarte, Head of Sales and Marketing at LC1 PMPC and former Store Manager of C&S Coop Supermart, stressed that cooperative membership alone does not guarantee customer loyalty. Cooperative stores, she said, must compete directly with private retail chains on price and service. Drawing on her experience, she shared practical sales strategies that helped her store exceed its daily sales target of PHP 500,000 and reach a peak of PHP 620,000: promotions on traditionally slower sales days, exclusive distribution partnerships with major national brands, daily competitor price checks and delivery services. She also noted that sustained retail success requires governance policies tailored to retail operations and effective succession planning, so that operations continue beyond the tenure of any individual manager.

Frontline practitioners then shared insights from day-to-day retail operations. Mr. Jun-Mar Catam-isan, Manager at EPSTEMPCO, described the challenge of managing the eMart division alongside credit services, and a recent crisis caused by accumulated inventory losses. His team responded with a “100-day turnaround” strategy, suspending orders for slow-moving items and improving the in-house inventory management system, underscoring the importance of rigorous internal controls.

Mr. Noel S. Arrogante, Operations Manager at King Savers Mart (KSM), spoke about joining a cooperative retail business in Cebu after 15 years at a hypermarket in Saudi Arabia. He tackled significant inventory wastage and introduced weekly staff training, measures that helped lift daily sales from PHP 70,000 to as much as PHP 250,000. KSM has also expanded B2B transactions, with regular supply arrangements with large corporate call centers and more than 50 local schools, as well as bulk supplies such as 200 packs of French fries to local restaurants. To support this growth, KSM is implementing the Prime Core automated inventory system and planning to expand its warehouse capacity to separate B2B inventory from retail stock.

Following the presentations and a Q&A session, Mr. Balasubramanian G. Iyer, Regional Director of ICA-AP, praised the NGS model for demonstrating that cooperatives can compete effectively in retail while maintaining their distinctive social values. He singled out senior citizen priority services, delivery operations and management practices aligned with the SDGs as valuable examples of how cooperative retailers can combine commercial competitiveness with social responsibility.

In his closing remarks, Assoc. Prof. Datuk Dr. Abdul Rahman Razak Shaik, Vice President of ANGKASA, Malaysia, and Vice Chairperson of the Consumer Committee, reiterated the essential role of consumer cooperatives in providing affordable goods to local communities, particularly amid rising inflation and cost-of-living pressures.

The webinar showed how cooperative retail stores can become more competitive, resilient and community-centered enterprises. By sharing practical experiences from the Philippines, it strengthened solidarity and set the stage for continued knowledge exchange among consumer cooperatives across Asia and the Pacific.