retail news Archives

IKEA Opening New Store in the Philippines in Partnership with Ayala Group

Posted on October 20, 2025October 20, 2025 by admin

MANILA, Philippines — Swedish home furnishing giant IKEA is opening its second official branch in the Philippines in partnership with the Ayala Group.

IKEA will open its first Plan and Order Shop in the Philippines at TriNoma Mall on Oct. 23, bringing its affordable and sustainable design closer to northern Metro Manila residents.

“We are now getting closer to the many more Filipinos, especially in the north of Manila. This partnership between IKEA and Ayala Malls allow us to create spaces that are accessible, convenient and inspiring,” IKEA Philippines country retail manager Ricardo Pinheiro said.

“IKEA Plan and Order Shop is one of the most recent formats we have. It’s actually a shop where customers can order the full IKEA range. It is also a shop where customers can plan their home solutions. It’s also a shop where customers can actually collect their online orders” he said.

Pinheiro said the Plan and Order Shop format is currently available in other IKEA sites globally like London, Paris, Stockholm, Spain and Portugal.

“We are opening more and more, but they are not very old. So it’s quite a recent format that we are still testing,” he said.

The first IKEA Plan and Order Shop in the Philippines will be a 500-square meter store located at the ground level of TriNoma Mall.

Pinheiro said that total investment for the store ranges from P30 million to P35 million.

The shop features small scale store with room vignettes and products that shoppers can purchase in-store and also functions as a free collection point for online orders.

It is also a space for customers to plan their dream kitchens, wardrobe and storage cabinet with the same expert guidance as offered from IKEA’s store in Pasay City.

The IKEA Plan and Order Shop aims to make affordable home furnishing even more accessible to shoppers from every corner of Metro Manila.

“For now, we are very committed to make this one a success. Based on the success of this one, we will decide if we will open more in different locations or not,” Pinheiro said.

Ayala Malls chief operating officer Paul Birkett said the opening of the IKEA Plan and Order Shop matches the ongoing refresh being undertaken at TriNoma.

“It’s really critically important that this first ever Plan and Order point in the Philippines, it’s the new retail format that brings the IKEA brand closer to consumers. It combines the convenience, the access, the innovation, but more importantly, the exceptional products. We give people another reason to visit TriNoma,” Birkettt said.

Pinheiro said the plan for IKEA Philippines for expansion moving forward is to explore both large store as well as the small scale Plan and Order Shop formats.

“For IKEA, it’s not one or the other. It’s one and the other. So we are looking to both formats as a way to get closer to the many Filipinos. Our country is so big and its so scattered around so many different islands and cities that we believe we need to explore both options of bigger store like Pasay and smaller Plan and Order shops like in Quezon City,” he said.

Asked about plans to open an IKEA store in SM Megamall, Pinheiro said: “It’s not part of our plans in the near future.”

IKEA opened its first store in the country in 2021 at the Mall of Asia Complex in Pasay, which is currently the biggest IKEA store in the world.

Original Article: https://www.philstar.com/business/2025/10/15/2479893/ikea-opening-new-store-philippines-partnership-ayala-group

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Makro Reentering Philippine Market, Backed by Ayala

Posted on September 25, 2025September 25, 2025 by admin

MANILA, Philippines — Grocery chain Makro is making a Philippine comeback with the help of the Ayala conglomerate, which has recently regained appetite for the retailing business.

ACX Holdings Corp., a wholly-owned subsidiary of Ayala Corp., signed on Sept. 24 a partnership deal with Thai company, Makro ROH Company Limited (MROH) for the operation of Makro stores in the Philippines.

ACX and MROH will own equity interest of 49.9 percent and 50.1 percent, respectively, in an investee entity that will operate the business venture.

MROH is a a subsidiary of CP Axtra Public Company Limited, a wholesale and retail business operator and mall management firm in Thailand and overseas markets. It is part of the Charoen Pokphand Group.

Makro, part of a Dutch warehouse club, debuted in the Philippines in 1996 during the term of President Fidel V. Ramos. The SM and Ayala groups then jointly invested in the brand.

16-year hiatus

Ayala later on sold its stake to the SM Group. Starting 2009, however, the SM Group decided to phase out the brand in favor of its own SM Hypermarket or SM Savemore.

But under a new generation of leaders, Ayala is noticeably getting back more aggressively into the retailing game, seeing an opportunity in the country’s demographic profile.

It recently brought Australian brand Anko to the Philippines.

Through incubation arm Kickstart, the group likewise invested in fast-growing PickUp Coffee chain.

Ayala Corp. managing director Mariana Zobel de Ayala earlier explained to Biz Buzz why the conglomerate was more confident in reentering the lucrative but highly-competitive retailing space.

“I think this time we have a dedicated team that’s really focused. We’ve also brought in experts who have done retail both locally and abroad,” Zobel said. “And we think there’s so much more to serve the Philippine market with. We feel the Filipino is quite underserved when it comes to retail and that’s kind of what drives us.

The renewed appetite for retailing complements the Ayala group’s business as a property developer. Grocery operation – one of the few businesses that thrived even during the harsh COVID-19 lockdowns – can anchor shopping centers and integrated developments.

Original Article: https://business.inquirer.net/548873/makro-reentering-philippine-market-backed-by-ayala

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YouTube and Shopee Partner in Southeast Asia E-Commerce Tie-Up

Posted on October 11, 2024January 28, 2025 by admin

ALPHABET’S YouTube and e-commerce platform Shopee said on Wednesday (Sep 18) they were launching an online shopping service in Indonesia and planned to expand it in South-east Asia as competition picks up with a rival operator owned by TikTok.

Under the YouTube Shopping tie-up, people will be able to purchase goods viewed on YouTube through links to Shopee, which is owned by South-east Asian technology conglomerate Sea Ltd. Company executives told reporters they plan to expand the service to Thailand and in Vietnam in a few weeks. YouTube Shopping is already active in South Korea and the US.

Indonesia’s “energy and velocity around online shopping” is what prompted the launch, YouTube Asia-Pacific director Ajay Vidyasagar said in Jakarta. With YouTube Shopping, Alphabet and Shopee will be competing against TikTok, the Bytedance-owned video app, which has increased its ambitions for the region after taking control of Indonesia’s biggest e-commerce platform Tokopedia.

Asked about the size of the partnership with Shopee, Vidyasagar said it was very significant, but declined to give numbers. He said YouTube Shopping would be opened to partners other than Shopee “in a phased, sequenced manner.” Reuters reported last year, citing sources, that YouTube was planning to apply for a licence to operate e-commerce services in Indonesia, South-east Asia’s largest economy.

TikTok’s shopping service, TikTok Shop, accounted for US$16.3 billion in 2023 in gross merchandise value in South-east Asia, in a nearly fourfold jump from the previous year, consultancy Momentum Works said in a report.

This has made the platform the region’s second largest e-commerce platform after Shopee.

The region of nearly 700 million is one of the world’s fastest growing e-commerce markets. The Momentum Works report said South-east Asia’s eight largest e-commerce platforms racked up US$114.6 billion in gross merchandise value in 2023, up 15 per cent from 2022. REUTERS

TAKEAWAY:

This news marks a significant shift in how businesses and retailers should align their future strategies, particularly in terms of marketing and growth. As the collaboration between YouTube and Shopee begins in Indonesia and soon expands to Thailand and Vietnam, it’s only a matter of time before the Philippines becomes the next market to adopt this trend. With the rapid growth of the local e-commerce sector and platforms like TikTok providing stiff competition, businesses must stay ahead of the curve by embracing new, integrated shopping experiences that combine entertainment with commerce.

For retailers and brands in the Philippines, this signals a need to rethink traditional marketing approaches and adapt to the evolving digital landscape. The ability to seamlessly link content with purchasing decisions offers an exciting opportunity to engage consumers in a more interactive and immediate way, potentially driving higher conversion rates. As the digital economy continues to flourish, businesses that proactively align their strategies with these innovations will be well-positioned for long-term success.

The question now is: how will Filipino businesses adapt, and are they ready for this new wave of e-commerce?

Original Article: https://www.businesstimes.com.sg/companies-markets/consumer-healthcare/youtube-and-shopee-partner-south-east-asia-e-commerce-tie