ISLAMABAD: The Utility Stores Corporation (USC) has decided to provide home delivery services and convert its administrative offices into large retail outlets to cater to societal changes in the wake of the coronavirus pandemic.

Both these measures will be launched from the capital. The USC management has decided to convert its head office in Blue Area into a large retail outlet.

“We have already discussed the matter and taken a legal opinion from the Capital Development Authority to convert the USC head office into a large department store,” USC Managing Director Umer Lodhi said, adding that the conversion will begin within two months.

Mr Lodhi was speaking to the press on Thursday at the USC head office.

He said converting the head office into a store will be “a service to the large number of people working in this part of Blue Area who can buy essentials and household items just by taking some time during work.”

He added that since limited timings for commercial activities and other precautionary measures to limit the spread of the coronavirus are continuing, a large department store is even more necessary in places such as Blue Area.

The USC administrative offices will be moved to its own property in I-9.

Following the successful conversion in Islamabad, the USC plans to replicate the move in cities such as Peshawar and Quetta, where the state-owned retail chain has properties in commercial areas.

Almost all these buildings are being used as administrative offices, mainly because there were little to no commercial activities in these areas when the offices were first established decades ago.

Mr Lodhi said that several habits have now changed in the wake of the coronavirus, and many will be long-lasting and become a part of people’s lives.

“We are responding to these changing behaviours and it is essential to remain competitive as well as become profitable in the business,” he said.

He said these changes including home delivery services and the necessity of information technology usage.

The USC has already entered into an agreement with the Pakistan Post to deliver orders from Utility Store outlets to customers’ homes.

“We decided not to establish our own delivery system and invest a large amount into a new business,” Mr Lodhi said, adding: “The best option was to enter into a contract with the experts in the field and the Pakistan Post also happens to be a state-owned entity.”

Under the arrangement, the Post Office will establish a setup in Utility Stores where orders can be delivered to the post department for delivery to buyers’ homes or other designated locations. A designated mobile-based portal is also in the final stages of development, through which customers will be able to order from their homes and pay on delivery.

Mr Lodhi said: “Within a few months, all the operations of the Utility Stores from purchases, warehousing, deliveries and sales as well stock in retail outlets will be connected online.”

He said the IT network will be established in large stores in major cities and then gradually expanded to smaller towns.

He added: “From now on, we will not establish small stores even in villages as that time has gone. [We] now need large stores with significant variety even in small towns, because people are willing to spend on items of daily use,” he said, adding that the total number of Utility Store outlets will reach around 5,000 by the end of July.

Although the USC is planning for the future, its management still has to clear its debt and dues. The corporation had a backlog of Rs8 billion in terms of payments to goods suppliers of which Rs6bn has been cleared; the incumbent management hopes to break even by October.

Published in Dawn, June 19th, 2020