theceomagazine.com | 79Banks also approached the untried idea
with some hesitation. “They were very
conservative in terms of giving credit. Even
the concept of displaying your wares, as in
a supermarket, carried risk in their view
because they were concerned that items
might get lost or broken. All these concerns
were growing pains we had to address.”
Gradually, CW Home Depot was able to
address these perception problems through
advertising the benefits of its platform. It
also offered suppliers the opportunity to
trial the new model. For hesitant consumers,
it promised to beat competitors’ prices.
Eventually, everyone was won over, even the
banks, who decided to offer CW Home
Depot credit once they saw that the concept
could turn a consistent, stable profit.
With finance finally in place, CW Home
Depot then expanded from its original
Ortigas location to a total of nine stores.
It has also recently purchased two other
sites that will be turned into stores. Like
the existing stores, the new outlets will be
organised into four divisions: a DIY section,
a Home Interior Superstore, a Home
Appliance Superstore, and a range of specialty
stores. “We recognise that a lot of the
customers have travelled hours and have
limited time in the store,” Ferdinand says.
“We want to go to them in terms of
store location, and we also want to value
their time.”
Each new store has been launched in
direct response to customer demand.
Ferdinand says that this reflects CW Home
Depot’s customer-first approach; the company
does not see those buying from their store
as end users, nor does it consider the
relationship with the customer finished
with the purchase. “You try to treat your
customers as if it is not just a one-time deal;
you try to follow up with them. You might
ask how the delivery is, for example. For the
home owners, it is an ongoing project. They
might do a bathroom, then later they come
back because they need grout, or because
they want to put in a mirror. It’s a good
thing, being able to service their needs.”
In the hardware retail industry, Ferdinand
says the consumers are often described by an
“ We will reward
those who are
performing, who
reach their targets
... That is an
important part
of what we’re
trying to do.”
‘ABCDE’ acronym, meaning the customer
base is comprised of architects, builders,
contractors, designers and developers, and
engineers. “I would like to add an F, for
friends,” he says.
Asked about what values he would like
to pass on to younger staff who come into
CW Home Depot, Ferdinand says that he
seeks to emphasise teamwork, which is
important to the company. “I have partners
who help me run the business, and I really
appreciate their teamwork with me. The
culture we have here is that we reward
performance and results. You could say we
play favourites, but our favourites are the
ones who are performing all the time. That
is an important message for the younger
generation: that we reward performance.”
CW Home Depot has a fairly young
management team in place, and Ferdinand
praises the “young ones” as the future of the
company. “They have so many ideas to share,”
he enthuses. However, he says, younger
employees progressing to management was
not a strategic move, but simply a by-product
of the company’s meritocratic approach to
promoting the best performers, regardless
of their background or age.
“We will defer to older staff if they’re
performing well. What we’re trying to »