If the shopper won’t come to the store, the store must go to the shopper
If the shopper won’t come to the store, the store must go to the shopper.
When Francis Bacon wrote the original lines of this proverb in 1625, little did he know that in the 2020 pandemic, it would have great relevance.
Moving mountains is nothing new to retail dynamo Anton Huang, president of Stores Specialists Inc. (SSI). As early as last year, his company had planned to launch an online shopping destination featuring traditional products as well as luxe brands in 2021.
Well, the mountains — or better still, the shoppers — couldn’t wait. The pandemic has made it necessary to move the 2021 project to right here, right now, November 2020.
The result is Trunc.ph, a digital omnibus shopping destination that carries all the desirable brands in the SSI Group, the Philippines’ largest specialty retailer. It carries more than 110 brands, as it has almost 600 stores and 11 e-commerce sites.
The brands include Lacoste, Muji, Lush, Tod’s, Burberry, Ferragamo, Michael Kors and Smashbox. Soon to launch this year are Gucci, Saint Laurent, Bottega Veneta, Alexander McQueen and Loewe.
“It’s a multi-brand digital boutique,” says Huang of the project that his team was so excited about last year, they came up with 1,000 names for it. It is perhaps one of the most beautiful websites shoppers could ever see.
It has three components: Trunc Show, which features curated offerings from Milan, London and New York to complement the A market’s lifestyle.
Powderroom by Trunc carries beauty and skincare products that seem to be in demand these days, as the times have made our skin susceptible to skin problems like dryness, acne, as well as maskne.
Trunc at Home fulfills the desire of homemakers to fix their homes, as they have more time now to do so. With Christmas coming, homemakers are finding comfort and joy in sprucing up their homes, which is the place where everybody spends more time in.
Huang says delivery of the products ordered at Trunc.ph takes anywhere from three to 15 days, depending on the location in the Philippines. “Returns/exchanges can be done within 30 days of purchase.”
Will the orders be gift-wrapped, if given as Christmas presents to the recipients?
“We will have special wrapping for gifts,” says Huang, who tells us there will be synergy between physical and digital retail. “Expect the same quality of service you experience in our stores.”
SSI experienced a 400-percent e-commerce growth the past months. With Trunc.ph, Huang expects a bigger increase.
Muhammad is now going to the mountain.
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Follow the author on Instagram and Facebook @milletmartinezmananquil. Email her at mmmananquil@philstarmedia.com.
