Innovation today can often seem synonymous with technology — what new gadget can be deployed to attract new customers or streamline services? In retail in particular, there are constant questions around how to attract new customers with shiny systems and software, or how to improve mobility and ensure a solid e-commerce strategy. These are valid considerations for all industries. However, true entrepreneurs don’t just follow technology trends; they also discover unorthodox ways to achieve business growth.
For a large-scale and historical organisation like Robinsons Retail Holdings (RRH), it was Johnson Go, a business and economics graduate who majored in marketing management, who proved to be a valuable asset to the company with his holistic interpretation of innovation, ranging from new necessities to more traditional means of growth across a number of RRH’s business units. With his proven track record of business development, it made perfect sense when Johnson was promoted to the general manager role for the firm’s much-revered Robinsons Department Store subsidiary in 2008.
Throughout its 36-year history, Robinsons Department Store has grown into a powerhouse retailer renowned for continuously introducing new products and spearheading the latest trends. “My unorthodox approach to the business, my background in the area of business development, and the favourable performance of the business unit I was handling at the time paved the way for me to be considered for the role,” says Johnson. “At least I think so — maybe it was just due to the lack of willing candidates that led to my appointment as general manager,” he jokes. “Kidding aside, I’m now tasked with the considerable role of handling the whole operations for the Robinsons Department Store business unit in order to continuously grow and innovate it.”
With Johnson’s assistance, Robinsons Department Store has thrived to become a highly popular department store, boasting the highest number of stores nationwide with more than 40 shop locations across the region. The retailer’s vision is to provide customers with affordable and world-class products and services. “I formulate short- and long-term strategies, initiative projects and initiatives to support these strategic plans. “I also develop and heighten vendor relationships, and set and reach new key performance indicators. I spend a lot of time identifying new internal and external opportunities,” explains Johnson.
Without realising it, Johnson was demonstrating good business acumen long before being granted a leadership position with one of the Philippines’ largest retail chains, by starting up his own small niche retail operation on the side to pay for his university education. “My training at university leaned more towards advertising and marketing management. It never crossed my mind that the business I had while in college would lead me to a long-term career in retail,” he says.
Johnson says he stumbled upon a ‘blue ocean’ market opportunity by selling hand-painted shirts in 1982. “Equipped only with sheer determination and a background in painting, I emptied my savings to venture into selling these shirts. I attended regular classes during the day and devoted whatever time left to painting and marketing my shirts. Eventually, I was getting more orders than I could accommodate.” His clientele grew from other university students and regular Joes to include orders from celebrities, fashion specialty stores, and department stores. At that point, he knew he had a flair for this ‘retail’ thing.
Prior to his appointment at Robinsons Department Store, Johnson also served as general manager for Robinsons True Serve Hardware Philippines, Inc. (now known as True Value) and Robinsons Handyman — the business unit dedicated entirely to hardware and home improvement retailing, where he would prove he was a leader worth his salt. But his career with Robinsons stretches back more than two decades to when he was appointed Assistant General Manager of Robinsons Supermarket in 1995.
There he spent six years observing the full Robinsons working structure, and began developing recipes for more retail success. In 2001, he was appointed Assistant Vice President for Business Development to form and head up that department, with business development managers and officers reporting to him. He expanded his skill set and growth perspectives for another four years, before taking on his first top general manager role with Robinsons Handyman — where he spent three years proving he was a leader worth his salt.
“I saw an opportunity that would allow the centre to have a strong differentiation and competitive advantage over the other mall-based hardware chains by developing non-core categories such as pet care, household consumables, outdoor and lifestyle,” says Johnson. “The merchandise assortment from these categories brought excitement to the product mix, and gave customers a reason to make more frequent visits to our stores.” True enough, those categories later became major departments in the centre, contributing significantly to the overall success of both Handyman and its sister store, True Value. From this initiative in 2005, one flagship pet food product, Bow Wow Dog Chow, is still the top-selling stock keeping unit (SKU) in Handyman.
After eventually moving in to help grow True Value, it took just a year before Johnson stepped into his current leadership position with Robinsons Department Store,
the larger of the two brands with a much wider scope for growth. Over the past eight years, Johnson has demonstrated a keen commitment to continuous innovation and change within the company. Under his guidance, the store has won numerous awards across many categories, most recently the 2015 Outstanding Filipino Retailers Award in the Hall of Fame Department Store Category, granted by the Philippine Retailers Association.
“More often than not, new entrepreneurs bring with them fresh concepts that generate a new vibe and excitement to a retail format.” – Johnson Go
Robinsons is known as one of the premier shopping destinations in the country, and Johnson works to ensure they offer an exceptional selection of merchandise from top international and local brands. “We’re committed to making shopping a pleasurable experience rather than a task, and we’ve professionalised our customer service counters with what’s now called the Robinsons Business Center,” says Johnson. “Now shoppers can complete errands and settle dues for basic utilities, purchase show and concert tickets, complete foreign exchange transactions, buy Robinsons gift certificates, phone and internet
credit, and even book Cebu Pacific flights, in just one stop.” Today Robinsons Department Store is the only full-line department store that has the flexibility to operate in small, medium and large formats.
In keeping with generating the utmost benefits for every stakeholder, the retailer endeavours to constantly expand its market shares. In 2015, it also completed the opening of four lifestyle centres, and was also able to successfully occupy strategic locations in regional areas amid an economic crisis — no mean feat for retailers. Upon joining the department store business unit officially, Johnson says his initial plan of action for improving the offerings of Robinsons Department Store in 2008 was to strengthen the chain’s differentiation compared to other department stores, which he did by addressing gaps in the merchandise offering.
“That was carried out through a collaborative product development effort with vendors, the introduction of distinctive private labels for merchandise, and heightened international and local sourcing of merchandise,” he says. Second on his agenda was to embark on what he describes as a “difficult and tedious, but very rewarding” task of taking full stock of the products of the store’s consignors and vendors, to equip them with vital information gathered from business analytics.
“Prior to this initiative, only direct-purchased items were SKUed for data gathering. With more information available to both us and our vendors, we were able to understand and serve our customers better. Likewise, business analytics allowed us to maximise the full potential and raise the productivity level of brands present in our stores,” he says. Robinsons Department Store continues to carry out business reviews via its supply portal analytics platform, which enables vendors to view the progress of their sales and better understand the market, their target customers, and sales so they can adjust with market trends.
These efforts also further fortified the company’s relationship with its strategic business partners, adds Johnson, as it demonstrated the company’s commitment to fostering true partnership, and rewarded suppliers and vendors onboard for the long haul.
“With our improved sales density and margins, not once have we had to increase vendor charges since in 2008.” Johnson is full of praise for the many vendors and suppliers that Robinsons Department Store has worked with through the years, claiming they have played a crucial role in supporting the company’s expansion. “Our partners have worked with us across all formats. With our excellent vendor relations, top local and international brands have partnered with us throughout the years and have trusted Robinsons Department Store,” says Johnson.
Supporting operational initiatives he set in place, Johnson also set about strengthening the management team, reinforcing the organisation with key positions to prepare the retail chain for store expansion. The Robinsons Department Store logistics facility also underwent major expansion in 2009 in order to accommodate another 50 stores, pre-empting major disruption in the company’s supply chain at least until 2020. In 2010, the retailer also made the drastic decision to veer away from the traditional practice held by fashion retailers of updating merchandise assortment every season.
“That change was to prepare us for the entry of fast-fashion brands into the Philippines. Our strategy was to restock with new designs as often as we could. To successfully implement this initiative, our guiding formula was to buy wide and shallow, offering a wider variety of styles but with less inventory,” explains Johnson.
Looking ahead, Robinsons Department Store plans to further expand its store network — a response to the urbanisation needs of the region it serves and promising economic activity within it. Running in parallel with that, the company will continue to strengthen its business operations by means of introducing a new level of pleasurable shopping experiences for customers. Johnson has been plotting many new growth initiatives to continue to provide the customers of Robinsons Department Store with a unique and engaging shopping experience, starting with the development of three brand-new shopping categories, which Johnson says the retailer plans to roll out in the near future.
Though tight-lipped on what these categories will consist of, he does state they’ll be extremely relevant to the day-to-day lives of customers and better address the needs of our current lifestyles. On top of this, Johnson says the business currently has three “very exciting” projects in the pipeline that, if successful, could result in yet another spin-off as a specialty store, to make its goods and services accessible to more people. “We’re currently in discussion with a few leading industry experts and connoisseurs whom we hope to team up and collaborate with in order to fulfil our desire in providing our shoppers with a curated experience each time they browse through our products,” says Johnson.
“The intention is to give a sense of assurance to our customers in terms of style, quality and value.” Aside from improvements within the brick-and-mortar shops and offerings, Johnson says, Robinsons Department Store is also consistently developing and streamlining its plan to prepare the retailer for an effective e-commerce presence.
“We aren’t just doing this to join a marketplace, but to also have our own platform,” says Johnson. “We’re currently mapping our digital blueprint to ensure that no detail is left out.
Our goal is to make the company completely e-commerce friendly, and part of that process is to set up a universal standard in sizing for all our private and exclusive labels. That applies to everything under our apparel offerings, and will streamline our price points across all categories to be offered online.”
In addition to planning the growth trajectory of Robinsons Department Store, Johnson is also heavily engaged in the development of the company’s employees, and seeking out and encouraging those with bright ideas to contribute creative suggestions for improving the business. “I always encourage young entrepreneurs who want to engage in retail to start as a consignor/concessionaire, allowing themselves to focus on their unique proposition and products without being burdened by high operating costs. More often than not, new entrepreneurs bring with them fresh concepts that generate a new vibe and excitement to a retail format.”
The company promotes creativity and innovation on a corporate social responsibility (CSR) level, not just to improve the company’s competitive offering, but also so that the dissemination of such innovation would benefit the general public.
As part of its CSR program, each year RRH holds an annual One Love A Day outreach program where each business unit sponsors a charity of its choice, with the employees spending time with the less fortunate. In addition, the business units also have their own programs, such as contributing to World Vision and other organisations.
In 2015, Robinsons Department Store arranged for a celebrity endorser, actress Erich Gonzales, to spend time with the kids of the Right Start Foundation during the holiday season. “We believe that every employee should feel a part of social and environmental development, so we motivate our employees on every level to realise the importance of social development,” says Johnson.
In the next three to five years, Robinsons Department Store will remain steadfast in its commitment to achieving business expansion. “We’ll always be improving our performance, while maintaining high standards of governance, integrity and ethics in our business practices for the future sustainable growth of society.”