MANILA - Philippine Seven Corp said on Monday it is widening its line of essential items and opening more stores in residential areas to boost foot traffic and sales during the pandemic.

People staying at home usually means smaller sales for convenience stores which are focused on people on the go, but that's not entirely true for 7-Eleven, Victor Paterno, president and CEO of Philippine Seven Corp, the operator of 7-Eleven stores in the country, told ANC.

Mobility restrictions imposed since March 2020 have limited the movement of Filipinos, including their shopping behavior as well as the size of their purchase basket.

“We are broadening our range of goods to cater to to more essentials. It’s a new line of business for us, hopefully it results to more traffic,” Paterno said.

In-store automated teller machines (ATMs) are the "largest contributor to traffic," Paterno said, adding that sales were better in December.

The company earlier partnered with Seven Bank Ltd of Japan to rollout cash-recycling ATMs, which enabled consumers to withdraw and deposit cash. [CASH-RECYCLING https://news.abs-cbn.com/business/03/05/21/7-eleven-operator-rolls-out-cash-recycling-atms-in-select-stores]

Philippine Seven is also monitoring further employment trends with several consensus groups pointing out a hybrid work arrangement in the new normal.

Workers shifted to remote work, while students earlier transitioned to online learning when the COVID-19 outbreak began in 2020.

Metro Manila and other nearby provinces remain under Alert Level 3 until Jan.31 due to the recent surge in COVID-19 infections, likely driven by the omicron variant.

• 7-Eleven shifts expansion to residential areas as it evolves due to pandemic