page_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines
section_title: Retail
hierarchical_section_title: COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines / Economic impact / Retail
caption_attribution_description: English: Counter setup of a 7-Eleven outlet store in Quezon City, Philippines amidst the COVID-19 pandemic.
context_page_description: The COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines is part of the worldwide pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2. The first case in the Philippines was identified on January 30, 2020 and involved a 38-year-old Chinese woman who was confined at San Lazaro Hospital in Metro Manila. On February 1, a posthumous test result from a 44-year-old Chinese man turned out positive for the virus, making the Philippines the first country outside China to record a confirmed death from the disease.
  After over a month without recording any cases, the Philippines confirmed its first local transmission on March 7. Since then, the virus spread to the country with at least one case being recorded in the country's 17 regions. Socio-economic status has been associated with the prevalence of COVID-19 cases across the country. Lockdowns, commonly known as community quarantines, have been imposed throughout the country since March 15 as a measure to limit the spread of the virus. The largest of these measures was the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.
  As of August 30, there have been 217,396 confirmed cases of the disease in the country.
context_section_description: According to the Philippine Retailers Association, the "total retail environment" saw a decline of 30–50%. SM Investments, the country's largest retailer, saw a decline of 10–20% in domestic sales. Despite the decline, most retail stores that provide essential services, including supermarkets, convenience stores, hardware stores, and pharmacies, remained open across the country to sustain consumers while other establishments at malls closed down. Such retail stores, however, imposed strict social distancing measures with some supermarkets only allowing 50 customers inside at a time and placing stickers on the floor to indicate that customers must stand one meter apart from each other. Stores were also regularly disinfected and customers were required to undergo a temperature check before entering. In the Greater Manila Area, several online grocers continued to operate, but with limited delivery slots. After most industries in the country being closed for two months, many stores in the retail sector are already allowed to open under revised guidelines of eased community quarantines.
  Panic buying and hoarding became rampant across the country, especially with essential goods such as food and sanitation products. The Philippine Amalgamated Supermarkets Association reported that the purchases of masks, alcohol, and other personal hygiene products in supermarkets across the country had already surged, urging the public against panic buying.
  Economic think-tank Fitch Solutions forecasts that the consumer and retail sector, especially non-essential businesses, would be one of the hardest-hit sectors in the Philippines as it loses sales revenue for an entire month due to the Luzon enhanced community quarantine (Luzon accounts for 73% of the country's GDP). Fitch Solutions forecasts the household final consumption expenditure for the country in 2020 to expand by 6.7% year-over-year, which was adjusted from a "pre-coronavirus projection" for 2020 of 7% growth year-over-year.
  Mall operators across the country, such as Ayala, Megaworld, SM, Robinsons, and Vista, initially shortened the operating hours of its malls to comply with government quarantine measures. While doing so, malls were asked to implement social distancing measures; for example, several malls implemented a "single-seat gap" policy in cinemas, in which moviegoers were required to sit one seat apart from each other. However, most malls in the country have since limited its operations to establishments providing essential services, particularly groceries, banks, and hardware stores.
caption: Setup of the counter area of a 7-Eleven store in Quezon City. Plastic sheets are installed to limit COVID-19 transmission.
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