Alfamart’s rapid expansion never overtakes quality service

With 19,087 across Indonesia and 1,680 more in the Philippines, the minimarket operator marks 25 years as a top choice for shopping.

Alfamart’s minimarket expansion in Indonesia is no small task, especially if you take into account how its 16,500 outlets at the beginning of 2022 grew to 19,087 by the end of December, 2023.

Now, the minimarket operator is venturing into spaces abroad. For the Philippines, the presence of Alfamart has, since 2014, grown to 1,680 outlets.

“Alfamart currently prioritises opening outlets outside Java, in remote areas or other minimally accessible areas that require retail network services. We aim to serve more communities, especially those outside major cities,” Rani Wijaya, corporate communications general manager of Alfamart, told Retail Asia.

Established in 1999, Alfamart proudly marks its 25^th anniversary this year as one of the top choices for shopping within both urban and rural communities largely because of the quality of its service it provides.

“This is directly proportional to our expansion,” said Rani. “We focus on the quality of service at our outlets.”

As its expansion goes hand-in-hand with improving service quality, she said Alfamart strives to be selective in opening new outlets. “The outlets we open must meet the criteria set by management, such as having long-term potential, and it is this potential that we prioritise when opening outlets,” she said.

Three ways to attract shoppers

Meanwhile, in attracting shoppers, Alfamart implements several strategies. Firstly, the minimarket continues to develop and refine their omni-channel shopping service known as Alfagift.

Alfagift is Alfamart's omni channel platform that not only serves as a transactional platform but also utilizes big data analytics to offer a more personalized approach to each shopper. This is achieved by integrating digital and CRM capabilities within Alfagift.

Secondly, Alfamart actively employs big data analysis. "This enables us to offer more personalized deals and promotional programs tailored to individual consumers to refer to their shopping habits and preferences. Consequently, these programs prove much more effective compared to offering sporadic deals to all consumer types," Rani told Retail Asia.

The third strategy is to introduce a variety of attractive and periodic promotional programs, which are also a flagship program to attract Alfamart customers, such as weekend programs (JSM), end-of-month programs (Gajian Untung), and other flagship product promotions that Alfamart regularly runs.