Nathan Andrada’s Blog

It was the perfect weekend. Most Filipino families grabbed the opportunity to spend during the long weekend leading to Bonifacio Day. Although I do not think the government is tracking sales made by major retail stores in any given period of time, it was obvious by the volume of people who flocked the malls in the weekend, that it was a huge day for the Philippine retail industry.

Retail giants like SM, Robinsons, and Landmark made a big killing out of people’s high disposable income in the weekend since the latest payout coincided with the mandated 13th month pay. My wife and I, like many others, stormed the malls to buy items from shoes to tickets to the movie Twighlight. It was like the Filipino version of the Black Friday shopping spree in the US during weekend Thanksgiving weekend.

For the retail industry, it is a good opportunity to bolster their bottom line since the ongoing economic crisis is definitely going to change people’s spending patterns for a while. Because as the crisis grips the economy further, they may have to get used to giving more than 20 percent off the tag just to get people to shop.