With 1,166 locations by the end of 2024, Watsons is still growing its community pharmacy model

“The Philippines has been selected for this momentous occasion because it’s one of the fastest-rising economies in Asia and a strategic market for AS Watson. This vibrant and highly potential market has a young demographic that increasingly focuses on health and beauty, aligning perfectly with Watsons’ expertise.” ~Dr. Malina Ngai, Group CEO of AS Watson Group

Further expanding into community pharmacy, Watsons Philippines opened more than 50 stores outside of Metro Manila.

As part of its strategic expansion, Watsons Philippines, a well-known health and beauty retail brand under the SM Group, ended 2024 with 1,166 locations. Last year, the company opened 80 new locations, more than 50 of which were outside of Metro Manila.

Under the direction of Dr. Malina Ngai, Group CEO of AS Watson Group, the Watsons brand also opened its 8,000th store in Asia at the Mall of Asia last year. She explained that the 8,000th store's opening represents a critical turning point in their international growth.

Expanding into community pharmacy

Through a joint venture between the SM Group and A.S. Watson & Co., based in Hong Kong, Watsons Philippines has expanded dramatically since the opening of its first location in 2002. Ltd. The company keeps expanding its reach across the country, giving Filipino customers easier access to cosmetics and medical supplies.

Important cities and municipalities in Visayas and Mindanao are among the new stores that opened last year, demonstrating Watsons' dedication to helping underserved communities. 

According to a recent Bain and Company study called "Asia-Pacific Front Line of Healthcare 2024," roughly 85% of consumers in the region place a high priority on maintaining their health, and 51% are willing to pay more out of pocket for better health outcomes and experiences.

“Watsons is not only expanding in malls but is also committed to establishing a strong presence in local neighborhoods,” De Guzman said. “By the end of 2024, we have 400 community stores throughout the Philippines, ensuring accessibility and convenience for our customers. Our community stores bring essential healthcare products closer to home, catering to the convenience sought by our busy shoppers. They have become vital destinations for health, beauty, and wellness needs.” ~Jared de Guzman, Customer Director at Watsons

In 2015, Watsons opened its first community pharmacy location in Pateros. The brand currently operates in three formats: SM Beauty, which has 76 SM Stores; Watsons Pharmacy, which has over 1,000 locations in various settings; and LOOK, which is a multi-brand outlet located at SM Aura and SM Mall of Asia.

Watsons maintains its position as a reliable supplier in the health and beauty industry by catering to a wide range of customers, from trend-setting beauty enthusiasts to health-conscious individuals.

About SM Investments Corporation

SM Investments Corporation is one of the leading Philippine companies that is invested in market-leading businesses in retail, banking, and property. It also invests in ventures that capture high growth opportunities in the emerging Philippine economy.

SM’s retail operations are the country’s largest and most diversified, consisting of grocery stores, department stores and specialty retail stores. SM’s property arm, SM Prime Holdings, Inc., is the largest integrated property developer in the Philippines with interests in malls, residences, offices, hotels, and convention centers as well as tourism-related property developments. SM’s interests in banking are in BDO Unibank, Inc., the country’s largest bank, and China Banking Corporation, the fourth largest private domestic bank.

For more information, please visit www.sminvestments.com

For inquiries, please contact: smic_corpcomm@sminvestments.com 

How Confident Are Women in Asia Nowadays?

“Watsons has had a deep connection with women for over 180 years. We believe that the best version of you and your real beauty should radiate from within. Confidence is an important part of inner beauty and is what makes you feel good and positively impacts your mental well-being. That’s why Watsons has recently appointed WISE – Watson Insight on Shopper’s Experience -  to conduct a survey about women’s confidence in Asia to find out what kind of support women need to feel more confident and help them become a better version of themselves. The findings show that an equitable, supportive and family friendly workplace is exactly what women need nowadays and we are keen to lead by example. With operations in 11 markets in Asia, women make up 77% of our 63,000 workforce. Therefore, it is Watsons’ ongoing commitment to create a culture that makes everyone feel welcomed, valued, appreciated and encouraged to bring their whole selves to work, and each of them is given equal career development opportunity. As a family-friendly company, we encourage more companies to join us in formulating policies to support and empower women, especially helping those working mothers to strike a balance between work and family. These findings are consistent with those in our ‘Women’s Confidence Survey in Asia’ that reveals staying healthy inside out is important to boost confidence which is important for both physical and mental wellness. As such, Watsons is launching ‘The New Beautiful’ campaign to encourage women to empower themselves to Look Good. Do Good. Feel Great. Featuring a series of activities across Asia, it will have three overarching themes – Go Green, Go Smile, and Go Empower, which aims to actively involve our community of over 100 million loyalty members in Asia. At Watsons, we believe in The New Beautiful, a new kind of beauty that’s good for everyone. To us, beautiful glows from the inside. It’s how we treat ourselves and each other. It’s how we live, who we are, and who we can be. The beautiful is in us all, and for us all.” ~Malina Ngai, CEO of A.S. Watson (Asia & Europe)

Watsons celebrates International Women’s Day by encouraging women to feel beautiful inside and out, boost their confidence and become the better version of themselves.

As we celebrate International Women’s Day, Watsons released results from a regional ‘Women’s Confidence Survey in Asia’. 

‘Women’s Confidence Survey in Asia’ has been conducted with over 3,100 women aged 20-29 across six markets including Mainland China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. The respondents were asked to rate their confidence levels and what are the things that can help to boost their confidence.

The findings show that almost half of all women in Asia are not confident about themselves at work and in life. Women’s confidence levels are lowest in Hong Kong, closely followed by Thailand, Singapore, Philippines, Indonesia and Mainland China. The survey further reveals that staying healthy inside out, as well as gaining recognition from coworkers are key to helping women gain confidence. 

Watsons’ recent Women’s Confidence Survey Asia revealed that in the Philippines, 70% are satisfied with their career progression and almost all believe it’s possible to excel in their field.

Equitable, Supportive, and Family-friendly Workplace is Key

Notably for the Philippines, 70% are satisfied with their career progression and almost all believe that it’s possible for women to excel in their career. Here, women believe that they will be more confident if they are staying health (70%), doing a purposeful job (65%), and doing something good for the environment (56%).

Watsons “What is Beautiful” survey revealed that inner beauty, feeling confident, happy and taking care of oneself inside and out are important in feeling beautiful.

What is Beautiful? Inner Beauty Becomes Increasingly Important

In another recent survey Watsons commissioned titled ‘What is Beautiful’, more than 11,000 women aged under 45 in 12 markets across Asia and Europe were interviewed about how they value things around them and how they define beautiful after going through a pandemic. On average, 75% of women agree that inner beauty has become more important than ever, especially in the Philippines (96%), followed by Malaysia (91%), 

Thailand (86%), Hong Kong (83%) and Taiwan (82%).

When being asked about the definition of ‘beautiful’, taking care of your health inside out tops the list, with feeling confident and feeling happy in the second and third.

What’s the most beautiful thing in life?’ The survey continues. Almost half the respondents feel that the most beautiful thing in life is doing good to the people around them, communities and even the planet we live in.

With this insight, Watsons Philippines offers up to 30% off on Women’s essentials like vitamins, supplements and personal care products for the whole month of March to help ensure Filipinas feel beautiful and health inside and out, thus boosting their confidence

In the Philippines, Watsons also has partnered with SM Supermalls for a special event titled “Women Now & the Future”, a summit on Women Empowerment for a Sustainable Tomorrow at the SM Megamall Fashion Hall. The conversation revolves around mentoring Womenprenuers and empowering the next generation of Women. Another program that is being planned later this year in partnership with Operations Smile is the launch of ‘Women in Medicine’ programme which aims to empower women in the field of medical science.

Please visit www.aswatson.com/our-company/o-and-o-strategy/ for more information. 

About Watsons

Watsons is the leading O+O (Offline plus Online) health and beauty retailer in Asia, currently operating over 8,000 stores and more than 1,500 pharmacies in 16 Asian and European markets. Watsons continually sets the standards in the health, wellness and beauty market, providing personalised advice and counselling in health, beauty and personal care on top of its market-leading product range, making customers LOOK GOOD, DO GOOD, FEEL GREAT every day. Since 2009, Watsons has been the No.1 pharmacy/ drugstore brand in Asia*. Watsons is the flagship health and beauty brand of A.S. Watson Group.

*Campaign Asia-Pacific “Asia’s Top 1,000 Brands” survey of over 8,000 respondents across 14 markets in Asia Pacific Region

About A.S. Watson Group

Established in 1841, A.S. Watson Group is the world’s largest international health and beauty retailer operating over 16,400 stores under 12 retail brands in 29 markets, with about 130,000 employees worldwide. For the fiscal year 2020,

A.S. Watson Group recorded revenue of US$20.6 billion. Every year, we are serving over 5.5 billion shoppers via our O+O (Offline plus Online) platforms, providing tech-enabled retail experience to customers offline and online.

A.S. Watson Group is also a member of the world-renowned multinational conglomerate CK Hutchison Holdings Limited, which has four core businesses - ports and related services, retail, infrastructure and telecommunications in over 50 countries.