A strategic management paper of Wilcon Depot Inc. / Fatima Gonzales, Dana Cris A. Balanquit, Allan C. Marquez, Cedrick R. Masaganda, Hector C. Pascual.

Thesis (M.A)--Pamantasan ng Lungsod ng Maynila, 2022.

A strategic management paper presented to the Faculty of the Business School-Graduate Program in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree Master in Business Administration.

Wilcon Depot has been known as the leading home improvement and construction supplies retailer in the Philippines have the most extensive product selection of trusted local and international brands with high-grade features and superior quality ranging from tiles or flooring, plumbing and sanitary wares, hardware, and tools products, electrical and lighting, furniture, home interior, building materials, paints, appliances, and other do it your own (DIY) items.

As of December 2021, the Company has 73 operating stores nationwide, which are mostly concentrated in Metro and Luzon areas (Metro Areas: 18: Luzon outside Metro Area: 36; Visayas: 10; and Mindanao: 9). The average number of stores that are opened by Wilcon yearly is between 5 to 8 stores.

The home improvement and construction supplies industry was sought-after during the pandemic and was forecasted that sales growth will further increase by 5% as the country is recovering from its economic downfall. Based on the "Porter's Five" analysis for Wilcon and its industry, the Company shows high rating for all forces of Porter's five such threats of new entrants, bargaining power of buyers, rivalry among competitors, bargaining power of suppliers and threats of substitute products due to the passage of "Retail Trade Liberalization Act" which invites more foreign retail investors laxing its business and capital requirements, the rise of E-commerce wherein buyers has easy access to look at other options at the using internet and their phone at the comfort of their respective homes, and mall-based and small local hardware. According to the competitive profile matrix, Wilcon Depot rated the highest at 3.23 among its close competitors, AllHome Depot Corporation and My Home Depot, based on its key critical success factors such as products variety and availability, number of stores in strategic location, price, quality of products and services, marketing promotional activities, store facilities, and regulatory compliance.

External analysis shows that Wilcon Depot is responding above average on its external forces based on the external factor evaluation which gives an total weighted average of 2.77. Taking advantage of the Wilcon's top3 opportunities such as forecasted 5% sales growth on home improvement, rising market of e-commerce, and increasing consumers spending on DIYs. But Wilcon should be cautious in handling threats such as the laxation of the "Retail Trade Liberalization Act" which will invite more foreign retail investors, a large number of local


In analyzing its internal environment, Wilcon needs to address its weaknesses such as less market visibility in Northern Luzon, Visayas, and Mindanao having less store in such areas, unutilized E-commerce platform, and the worsening company's quick asset ratio. However, Wilcon has a variety of product selection and brand offerings, good financial condition in terms of profitability and debt leverage, effective inventory system as its strength. From these overall factors, the company got an average of 2.71 from its internal factor evaluation.

By evaluating all these factors, internally and extermally, using the different matrices such as SWOT matching, SPACE matrix, BCG matrix, IE matrix and Grand Strategy Matrix. Wilcon Depot should prioritize market development as its primary strategy and product development as its secondary strategy. Strategies recommended for market development it to build 45 more stores until 2024 across the Philippines specifically in Northern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao. For product development, it is recommended to have an intensive marketing campaign promoting the third-party E-commerce platforms, improvement of Wilcon application to become one stop shop, new product offerings due continuous research and monitoring on trends of consumer behavior and the budget selection and enhancement of loyalty card program incorporation discounts and specialized promotion.

The strategic objective of Wilcon is to build 15 new stores per year from 2022 to 2024 across different regions in the Philippines specifically in developing provinces such as Northern Luzon, Visayas and Mindanao where company's visibility is less. With that expansion, it is expected that sales growth rate will increase by 20% in 2022, 22% in 2023, and 25% in 2024 once expansion projects are completed and strategies were implemented. The sales increase by figure are Php 33 billion in 2022, Php 40 billion in 2023, and Php 50 billion in 2024.