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ATI hikes capex to $300 million

ASIAN TERMINALS, Inc. (ATI) is increasing its capital expenditure (capex) to around $300 million this year to fund its port development plans at the Manila South Harbor and Batangas Port.
Asked about the listed firm’s capex for 2019, ATI Senior Vice-President for Commercial and Outports Sean James L. Perez told reporters on Friday: “Something like $300 million… (To be used) for expansion, port development. We’re expanding both the South Harbor here in Manila and we’re also expanding in Batangas.”
Last year, ATI set its capex at P8 billion, or approximately $152 million, which also went to capacity expansion projects in its ports in Manila and Batangas.
Mr. Perez explained the higher investment is necessary this year given the company’s target of increasing ATI’s total volume by around 5%.
“The two ports now will be really expanding all our facilities. And that’s also including equipment. We just brought in two new quay cranes in Batangas for rubber-tired gantries. We brought in some cranes for South Harbor,” he said.
In January, ATI added two new ship-to-shore (STS) cranes and four rubber-tired gantry cranes to increase the capacity at the Batangas Port. In February, it also joined international shipping lines in an agreement to share vessels and terminal resources to improve operations at the Manila South Harbor.
Mr. Perez said the company expects an improved financial performance this year.
“Now is an election year. You have importations now that are coming in. (The) Build, Build, Build program of the government (is there). All of these have been fueling consumer spending. So we see that we’ll grow hand-in-hand with all those developments,” he said.
ATI is scheduled to open by the second quarter a five-hectare container yard facility outside the Port of Manila. It is also on track to finish by end-April the expansion works at the Batangas Container Terminal, which will increase its annual capacity to 450,000 twenty foot equivalent units (TEUs).
The listed port operator posted an attributable net income of P2.2 billion in the nine months ending September, up 24% on higher revenues at P7.2 billion. — Denise A. Valdez with report from Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Yields on government debt end flat on RTB settlement

By Mark T. Amoguis
Researcher
YIELDS ON government securities (GS) ended flat last week as investors took profit following the settlement of the government’s retail Treasury bond (RTB) offering.
Bond yields, which move opposite to prices, slightly increased by an average of 5.4 basis points (bp) week-on-week, according to the PHP Bloomberg Valuation Service Reference Rates as of March 15 published on the Philippine Dealing System’s Web site.
“Market players traded in reaction to the settlement of the retail Treasury bond with action muted given lack of liquidity,” said Nicholas Antonio T. Mapa, senior economist at ING Bank N.V.’s Manila Branch.
“Some dealers opted to take profit as well given recent risk-off tone on the reversal in fortunes for the peso and delays to the US-China trade negotiations,” he added.
For his part, Michael L. Ricafort, economist at Rizal Commercial Banking Corp., said local benchmark rates “mostly corrected higher week-on-week, largely triggered by the weaker peso exchange rate [last] week to the weakest levels in more than a month, after the latest hints about possible monetary easing.”
“The latest 5-year RTB issuance totalling P236 billion also siphoned off supply of money from the financial system and also partly caused the upward correction in local interest rate benchmarks this week,” he said.
The government raised a total of P236 billion from its offering of five-year RTBs due 2024 with a 6.25% rate.
It was offered to the general public from Feb. 26 to March 8 through 21 authorized selling agents at denominations of P5,000.
These bonds were settled last March 12.
To support the funding requirements of the government, the Bureau of the Treasury plans to borrow P360 billion domestically during the first quarter of the year through a mix of short- and long-term notes.
Meanwhile, last Tuesday, the peso declined to a six-week low against the dollar to P52.70 after newly appointed Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Governor Benjamin E. Diokno said he is looking to cut the banks’ reserve requirement ratio (RRR) in four successive moves this year.
Big banks’ mandatory reserves currently stand at 18% after the central bank trimmed the RRR in two 100-bp moves in March and June last year.
Should the planned cuts materialize, the RRR will be at 14% by early 2020.
Meanwhile, the meeting between the heads of US and China to resolve the ongoing trade war will not take place this month and is likely to occur in April, according to a Bloomberg report. US President Donald J. Trump and China President Xi Jinping were supposed to meet at the former’s Mar-a-Lago resort in Florida this March.
At the close of trading last Friday, yields on three- and six-month debt went up by 24.2 bps and 2.7 bps, respectively, to fetch 5.676% and 5.905%. The one-year paper, however, declined by 2.6 bps to 6.054%.
The belly of the curve inched up, with the two-, three-, four-, five-, and seven-year bonds climbing 3.4 bps, 6.7 bps, 10.2 bps, 12.5 bps, and 12.4 bps, respectively, to 6.006%, 6.049%, 6.099%, 6.142%, and 6.18%.
The yield on the 10-year note also increased by 7.9 bps to 6.18%, while the 20- and 25-year papers dropped 5.3 bps and 12.8 bps, respectively, to fetch 6.311% and 6.437%.
For this week, market watchers pointed to the upcoming policy meeting of the central bank’s Monetary Board on Thursday. This will be the first meeting of Mr. Diokno as the new central bank chief.
This week, “local benchmarks interest rates could be steady to a bit lower, in view of the upcoming BSP monetary policy-setting meeting on Thursday, March 21, 2019, after the latest hints about further monetary easing in the coming months amid the easing/declining trend in inflation,” RCBC’s Mr. Ricafort said.
For his part, ING’s Mr. Mapa said “investors will be looking to the BSP policy meeting where the BSP is expected to keep rates steady although there is a growing consensus that rates may be lowered sometime in 2Q given decelerating inflation and the dovish central bank governor.”

AEV unit Pilmico Foods turns over 9-M research facility to Bukidnon university

PILMICO FOODS CORP., the agribusiness and food arm of the Abotiz Equity Ventures (AEV), said that it has turned over P9 million livestock research and training facility to the state-owned Central Mindanao University (CMU) in Bukidnon to boost agricultural research in the region.
The complex turned over by Pilmico will be called the CMU Agri Hub, which will facilitate research in swine genetics, animal nutrition, artificial insemination, and farm management.
The College of Agriculture is considered the premier college of CMU.
Carmelita T. Bajarla of the Department of Agriculture’s Region X office, said that the project is expected to “bring in mutual benefits for both students and farmers, while boosting rural development.”
Aboitiz Foundation First Vice President and Chief Operating Officer Maribeth L. Marasigan, meanwhile, said that AEV hopes the facility will create opportunities for growers in the region.
“We envision this facility to be significant in creating many possibilities for the fish, poultry, and swine sectors,” Ms. Marasigan said in a statement.
Jefferson C. Abian, Pilmico Vice President for Feeds said that the facility “is a tangible expression of our promise to empower the backyard sector, and ultimately the agriculture industry as a whole.” — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Traditional weaves for a contemporary lifestyle

GREAT WOMEN has partnered with Makati Shangri-La, Manila for a month long celebration of International Women’s Month focusing on women weavers and food producers, celebrating local artisanship and revitalizing Philippine culture.
Currently on view at the hotel lobby is Tapestry: Innovations & Inspirations, A Textile Collection exhibit featuring local Philippine textiles from different cultural weaving communities, as well as women cooperatives. The collection features new expressions by traditional weavers eager to embrace innovations in design, material and motifs. Traditional textiles are revitalized for the use in a contemporary lifestyle. It is on view until March 31.
A highlight of the month is a fashion show unveiling the GREAT Women 2019 Spring Summer Collection, contemporary urban wear of handwoven textiles made by community weavers around the Philippines. This will be on March 30, 3 p.m., at the Lobby Lounge. The event will also feature Filipino High Tea using sustainable ingredients from women producers of ECHOStore. Table reservations are suggested (P1,600++ for two persons).
The month ends with a three-day trunk show on March 29 to 31, 9 a.m. to 8 p.m., at the Makati B Function Room. This features lifestyle fashion apparel and accessories by GREAT Women under the GW label. Partner fashion designers and brands who have collaborated using GREAT Women textiles will showcase their capsule collections especially for this event.

IPOPHL wants DTI to regulate SMEs selling on Facebook

THE Intellectual Property Office of the Philippines (IPOPHL) is seeking the regulation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) that sell products via Facebook, as part of efforts to protect intellectual property rights.
IPOPHL Deputy Director General Teodoro C. Pascua told reporters on Friday they are working with the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) to trace intellectual property (IP) violators among online sellers.
“All of us know, in Facebook, i-open mo, may nagtitinda eh. Remember, walang tindahan. But nakatinda, you can contact us, ganyan. Illegal ’yun eh [All of us know that on Facebook you could find sellers. They don’t have stores, but they could sell. That’s illegal],” he said, referring to online sellers of brands under trademark owners.
Mr. Pascua said they had a meeting with Trade Secretary Ramon M. Lopez a few weeks ago to present the National Intellectual Property Strategy, and his feedback was positive.
While the mechanism has not been finalized, Mr. Pascua said what they want is for online sellers to register their businesses with the DTI, so if they are found without the regulatory documents, they may be removed from Facebook.
Aside from tapping the DTI, Mr. Pascua said they also want help from the National Telecommunications Commission (NTC) to gain authority in asking Facebook to take down illegal sellers.
“We want to have that mechanism where… if for example, Facebook would say we would listen to the Philippines pag sinabi ng NTC nila [if their NTC says so], which is an authorized government agency, we will block it off or cut if off,” he said.
The IPOPHL is the government agency mandated to uphold intellectual property rights in the Philippines. Mr. Pascua said coordination with government agencies and Facebook is important in curtailing the proliferation of IP violations in the online space.
But he also noted a key instrument in enforcing intellectual property rights is the cooperation of trademark owners, who sometimes tend to ignore violations when they are not directly affected.
“The (National Committee on Intellectual Property Rights) will do a representation, but we need the trademark owners to work with us… We’re working for trademark owners to trust the (Intellectual Property Office),” Mr. Pascua said. — Denise A. Valdez

DoST touts hybrid abaca advantages

GOVERNMENT researchers said hybrid abaca has some advantages in spinning fabric because of its finer fibers.
The Philippine Textile Research Institute (PTRI) of the Department of Science and Technology (DoST) said in a statement: “As fiber inputs to yarn production, the critical parameter is fiber fineness. After pre-treatment, the S2 grade abaca has a fiber fineness of 296 D. Hybrid abaca (H7), on the other hand, is almost three times finer at 117 D. This fiber redounds to more efficient spinning performance, thus, higher productivity in yarn manufacture,” PTRI said.
D or Denier is a measurement used to define fiber linear mass density expressed as the mass in grams of 9,000 meters of fiber.
The Philippine Fiber Industry Development Authority (PhilFIDA) defines S2 as a normal grade of hand and spindle/machine stripped abaca fiber extracted from next to the other leaf sheath, with a fiber strand of 0.20 to 0.50 millimeters (mm), with a color of ivory white, slightly tinged with very light brown to red or purple streak, which stripping quality is categorized as good, and the texture soft.
According to PTRI, hybrid abaca offers reduced fabric stiffness, decreases the yarn’s torsional rigidity, eases in the spinning process, and results in more luster, better dye absorption, and greater uniformity in yarn and fabric.
The PTRI noted that yarns produced using the cotton system show that at a 75% cotton and 25% abaca blend, the S2 grade can reach 8.7 Ne while the hybrid abaca can spin up to 11 Ne.
Ne represents yarn count; the higher the number, the finer the yarn.
“Final yarn composition also show that there is better uptake of abaca during yarn production. The S2 resulted in 83% cotton/17% abaca in the blend while the hybrid efficiently maintained a 76% cotton/24% abaca in the blend,” the PTRI said.
The DoST said hybrid abaca is still in its research stage and is not yet available for marketing, and distribution of planting materials is prohibited.
Last week, PhilFIDA Executive Director Kennedy T. Costales called on the University of the Philippines Los Baños — Institute of Plant Breeding (UPLB-IPB) and the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic, and Natural Resources Research and Development (PCAARRD) to stop its joint research project on the cross breeding of pacol — a form of wild banana — and abaca and instead should focus on breeding a true-to-type abaca varieties. — Reicelene Joy N. Ignacio

Peso to weaken ahead of BSP meeting

THE PESO is seen to weaken against the dollar this week amid expectations of a cut in banks’ reserve requirements and mixed US data.
The local currency closed last Friday’s session at P52.65 versus the greenback, five centavos weaker from the previous close, due to a reported delay in the meeting between US President Donald J. Trump and his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping.
Week on week, the peso also declined from its P52.25-per-dollar finish last March 8.
A market analyst said the peso may move sideways with a downward bias in the latter part of the week as “expectations of dovish remarks and actions from the BSP (Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas) might offset similar cautious comments from the US Federal Reserve.”
A BusinessWorld poll of 13 economists showed some market watchers believe the central bank will cut the reserve requirement ratio of big banks by a percentage point from the current 18%, taking cue from the previous pronouncements of BSP Governor Benjamin E. Diokno.
“The BSP might reduce the reserve requirement ratio by 100 bps and hint of looser monetary policy settings ahead in response to easing inflation,” one market watcher said.
“Meanwhile, the US Federal Reserve is expected to affirm its “patient” stance on monetary policy and could signal a softer path of future interest rate normalization. The dovish tilt of US policy makers might temper the dollar’s gain from the BSP’s potential policy shift.”
The analyst however noted that the dollar may weaken today following the comments of Chinese Premier Li Keqiang saying the US and China can achieve a mutually beneficial trade deal.
The dollar is also expected to weaken as US reports on industrial production and manufacturing came out weaker than expected even as consumer sentiment improved.
Meanwhile, UnionBank of the Philippines, Inc. chief economist Ruben Carlo O. Asuncion expects the peso to weaken as local data on the current account deficit and trade balance weigh on the currency.
“This is actually why [UnionBank’s Economic Research Unit] is expecting P54.50 peso ending this year,” Mr. Asuncion added.
For this week, he expects the peso to move between P52.70 and P53.10, while the market analyst gave a P52.35-P52.95 range. — K.A.N. Vidal

SSS now accepting penalty condonation applications

THE SOCIAL Security System (SSS) has started to accept applications for the condonation of penalties on delinquent contributions following the passage of its amended charter.
In a statement sent on Sunday, the state pension fund urged more than 132,000 delinquent employers to avail of the condonation program as the one-time amnesty is expected to waive about P13.91 billion worth of penalties.
“This is good news for employees of delinquent employers who may soon avail of the condonation program and make themselves compliant with the social security law,” Social Security Commission (SSC) Chairman Carlos G. Dominguez III said on Wednesday following the SSC meeting.
“As much as possible, we want to avoid lengthy judicial processes.”
Delinquent employers may now submit their letters of intent to avail of the condonation program, which will run until Sept. 6, at any SSS branch.
SSS officer-in-charge Aurora C. Ignacio said about P10.66 billion in unpaid premiums based on established collectibles are expected to be collected from the amnesty program.
Mr. Dominguez said close to 1.4 million employees in the private sector will benefit from the condonation program.
“SSS contributions are savings for the future and hardworking Filipino workers deserve to benefit from the contributions employers are duty-bound to remit throughout their productive years,” he added.
In a February press briefing, resigned SSS President and Chief Executive Officer Emmanuel F. Dooc said the pension fund will accept applications to condone penalties imposed on employers due to unpaid contributions within six months from the effective date of Social Security Act of 2018.
The new SSS charter took effect on March 5.
The circular approved on Wednesday is covered by Section 31 of the Transitory Clause of Republic Act No. 11199, granting a six-month period for employers with unpaid contributions to file requests for condonation of penalties.
Apart from the condonation of penalties on delinquent contributions, the SSS also launched a loan restructuring program with penalty condonation in April last year to help members who have outstanding short-term obligations, which will run until April 1.
Mr. Dooc filed his voluntary and irrevocable resignation following the effectivity of the amended SSS charter. — KANV

US seizes pork from China on swine fever concerns

WASHINGTON — U.S. border agents have seized around 1 million pounds of pork from China, a spokesman for the agency said on Friday, over suspicions that it might contain African swine flu disease which has hit Chinese pork output.
Federal agents have seized the supplies over the past week in New York.
“The seizure was in an effort to battle the spread of African swine fever,” Anthony L. Bucci, Public Affairs Specialist at U. S. Customs and Border Protection, told Reuters over email.
Asked if the seized pork had African swine fever, Bucci said, “This is an ongoing investigation,” and added that the federal agents were working with U.S. Department of Agriculture on the issue.
China, home to the world’s largest hog herd, has reported 112 outbreaks of the highly contagious disease in 28 provinces and regions since August, with the vast majority found on farms, with one at a slaughterhouse.
The disease can kill hogs in just two days, but is not harmful to people. About 1 million pigs have been culled so far in an effort to try to control the spread.
Hog prices in China hit their highest in 14 months this week as the spread of the disease reduces output.
U.S. officials decided to ramp up their fight to avoid the virus after Vietnam confirmed its first cases last month.
The U.S. Department of Agriculture said it will add more dogs to sniff out illegal pork products at airports and seaports in an effort to keep out the contagious hog disease that has spread across Asia and Europe. — Reuters

Investors continue to take cues from PLDT earnings report

pldt_logo
By Marissa Mae M. Ramos
Researcher
INVESTORS continued to take positions on PLDT, Inc. stock last week following the release of the company’s annual earnings results early this month.
Data from the Philippine Stock Exchange showed a total of P1.045-billion worth of 924,855 PLDT shares exchanged hands on the trading floor from March 11 to March 15.
Shares of the telecommunications company closed on Friday at P1,161.00, up by 2.56% from the previous trading day. It was also up 8% from its closing price of P1,075 the previous week, and 2.74% year to date.
In an e-mail to BusinessWorld, COL Financial Group, Inc. research analyst Adrian Alexander N. Yu said PLDT’s share price “rose significantly” last week as the market continued to price in the “positive results” from the telco giant’s earnings report on March 7.
“PLDT disclosed its full-year 2018 results with several noteworthy details, which may have caused the spike in trading volume,” Mr. Yu said.
“PLDT disclosed that in light of the strong full-year results, the company increased its full-year 2019 core net income guidance… In addition, PLDT’s results also showed a turnaround in its wireless business driven by improvement in subscriber count and average revenue per user,” he added.
Timson Securities, Inc. equities trader Jervin S. de Celis also pointed to the company’s earnings disclosure that drove up PLDT’s stock price.
“[T]he surge in [PLDT’s income] in 2018 may have helped and urged investors to buy PLDT shares at a discount since the company’s operation is returning to profitability…,” he said in a separate e-mail.
In its latest unaudited financial statements, PLDT reported its attributable net income surged 40.47% to P18.92 billion in 2018 from P13.37 billion the previous year, as revenues rose 3% to P164.75 billion on stronger demand for data.
On the other hand, PLDT’s core income dropped 5% to P26.2 billion, as it accounted for the P3-billion loss in digital arm Voyager Innovations, Inc. Excluding Voyager, the company said telco core income is 3% higher at P24.4 billion in 2018.
Service revenues grew 5% to P149.4 billion, 60% of which came from data services that generated P90.2 billion, up 37% year on year.
By business segment, PLDT’s enterprise unit contributed P38.4 billion in revenues, 10% higher than the previous year. PLDT Home also added P36.4 billion or 10% more from 2017, and wireless segment P62.5 billion or up 7%.
The company also declared a record-high allocation of capital expenditures (capex) in 2019 at P78.4 billion, an increase of 34% or P20 billion from the P58 billion realized last year. The aggressive capital spending allows the telco giant to expand its network amid the impending entry of a new player.
For 2019, PLDT has set a telco core income guidance of P26 billion, up 6.6% from last year’s P24.4 billion. Dividend payout is set at 60% of the core income.
Timson Securities’ Mr. De Celis expects PLDT to experience a slight pullback this week adding the company may “found support at P1,015 [per share] and may struggle going beyond P1,200 [per share]”
“Since the company is shelling out more capex for 2019, it may affect the bottomline performance of the firm for this year because that means more expenses that can cut its profit as it competes against [Globe Telecom, Inc.] So, PLDT may trade between P1,015 [per share] to P1,385 [per share] in the medium term as we wait for fresh catalyst to lift the company’s stock price,” he said.
For COL Financial’s Mr. Yu, “the higher-than-expected capacity should not be too worrying for investors.”
“Although PLDT had a record high capex, it is important to note that out of the additional P20-billion capex, P16 billion will be variable in nature, which implies that the capex will only be spent when there is revenue that is expected to be generated, while the remaining P4 billion is one off in nature related to additional vehicles and equipment to improve network rollout,” Mr. Yu said.
Mr. Yu sees PLDT’s support to be around P1,070 — the price per share of the stock “when the company released its earnings” — but still cautioned of the headwinds that a new telco player might bring.
“[W]e expect the share price to be volatile as the stock responds to a bevy of news related to the entry or the continued delay of the entry of the third player,” he said.
Hastings Holdings, Inc., a unit of PLDT Beneficial Trust Fund subsidiary MediaQuest Holdings, Inc., has a majority stake in BusinessWorld through the Philippine Star Group, which it controls.

Changing how people take meals on the go

PEOPLE who pack their food for work or leisure may want to check out Vaya Tyffyn lunchboxes, whose makers tout as the “first and last lunchbox one will ever need.”
Now available in the Philippines, Vaya Tyffyn lunchboxes are designed by a team of highly seasoned professionals across the globe with the goal of improving the way people take food on the go with products that are stylish, durable, and travel-friendly.
Vaya said its products are suited for the Philippines where the practice of bringing food along is still very prevalent.
The lunchboxes of Vaya allow one the option to pack a multi-course meal every day instead of the typical combination of rice and a main dish. They are available in 600ml (two containers), 1,000ml (three containers) and 1,300ml (four containers).
Vaya Tyffyn lunchboxes also have collapsible handles and proprietary Vacutherm Insulation technology that keeps food hot or cold for six hours.
Their sleek, stainless steel body easily fit in one’s bag with no worries of leaks as their lids are leak-resistant with integrated gaskets.
The lunchboxes have partitions that can carry more than one dish in each container, have heat-protective finger grips, replaceable copper-finished, polished-stainless steel containers, and stainless steel pressurizing latches.
Apart from the Philippines, Vaya is available in 15 other countries, including Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, United Kingdom and the United States.
The company said it intends to bring an emotional component in everyday life through the concept of total user experience: a combination of innovative, carefully designed, high-quality products, and smart, useful, friendly services.
Vaya Tyffyn lunchboxes are sold online at vayalife.com. — Michael Angelo S. Murillo

How a new generation of customers relies on experience to shape products and services

By Vincent Mariel Galang
Reporter
A consumer group whose members’ buying habits depend on what others have experienced is changing how businesses are providing products and services to their target market.
The emergence of “generation customer experience” or GenCX has placed more weight on the opinion of others and has played a huge role on whether this consumer group will purchase a product or avail of a particular services.
“It is a shift of power from the sellers to the customers,” Alvin Ching, vice-president and seller engagement head of Lazada Philippines, said during the second Philippine Retail Summit with the theme #GenCX: The ultimate retail disruptors held at the SMX Convention Center Aura in Taguig City on March 14.
“Customers would listen more to those who have already experienced your product or service more than how you position in the market,” he added.
These buyers are not a new group. But their presence has become stronger especially in Southeast Asia with the emergence of e-commerce. Their strong influence on other consumers has pushed businesses to cater to what the group wants and needs to gain loyalty.
Jonathan Yabut, managing director of JY Consultancy Ventures, said the idea is to offer a “fantastic” customer experience that could lead consumers to stick to a product and referring it to others.
“I think the pinnacle of being a great CX provider is achieving the top of the pyramid,” he said during his presentation. He was referring to how to win the loyalty of one’s customers.
Mr. Yabut noted GenCX trends that firms should keep in mind to attract this consumer group. He said the most important factor is to have or develop a product or service that is “instagrammable” as GenCX consumers put more importance on what is visually appealing.
“Instagrammable does not only refer to Instagram,” he said, referring to the popular social media application. “It could be any platform where you can brag what you think you can talk about.”
He cited for instance the “unicorn” Frappuccino that Starbucks released in 2017. Many were attracted to the drink that gave the feel of a unicorn. More than the taste, it was the visual appeal of the product that made people buy it.
“The intention was that the entire product was so beautiful it pops out excellently on Instagram or on Facebook that when you take a photo of it and you’re the one who is able grab it and not your friends, you become the envy of your social circle,” he said.
“We decide not by the functionality of the product but because of the visual reasons that can make a better image out of us,” he added.
“We choose, therefore, not because of our senses of taste or our hearing. We choose because of our visual decisions behind it,” he said.
GenCX consumers also give importance to product reviews. They usually delay the purchase of a product until they are able to do enough research of it. Unboxing videos, ratings, and other ways of expressing one’s opinion of a product have influenced others’ decision on whether to buy or not.
“From 2D, we have become more 360 because if it’s only a photo, it can be easily faked, and we love videos because they are more authentic and they give us the real feel,” Yabut said.
Consumers rate a product even without an incentive to do so because it gives them a sense of being part of a community.
Regina Saquin, head of Zalora’s CX, said the company places a big importance to what its customers think. It usually reaches out to customers through ways like web surveys to know their preferences.
“In a data-driven society, it pays to take a step back and just listen to the customer,” she said in her presentation.
Mr. Yabut said these consumers are more inclined to products or services that are able to adapt to their needs. For instance, when Samsung developed its smartphones it asked customers about what they want on their phone. The response included better battery capacity and power, which the company applied to its products.
“That in itself is an example that when you really ask your customers what they want, they can offer it to you,” he noted.
Mr. Yabut emphasized the role of the customer’s idea, which may later shape what the business will be. He said some ideas cannot be ignored or resisted, and that certain aspects of customer experience could lead to “the next big thing” for a business.
For Mr. Ching, GenCX is not a trend.
“We are at an inflection point and again we can never go back to where we were before, and because it’s not a trend, it’s a new reality. One thing we have to do is to be very strategic about it, so you have to think of the long term,” he said.

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