Trouble in (shopper’s) paradise: how Singapore malls rethought the retail experience
As e-commerce giants put the squeeze on brick-and-mortar shops in the Lion City’s malls, savvy operators are rethinking the world of retail by offering food, drink ... and experiences
After years buying clothes online, Singapore civil servant Olivia Chin brought internet shopping closer to home – she furnished her flat almost entirely from Taobao, China’s biggest e-commerce platform. She bought a coffee table, dining table, sofa, television console, bar stools and lights. Instead of paying S$2,000 (HK$11,460) for a dining table in Singapore, the 25-year-old found it for S$500 online. Shipping charges from China to Singapore were S$2.99.
“I also bought bar stools at S$10 each on the site, while shops here were selling them at about S$100,” she said.
More and more Singaporeans are shopping like her – with clicks of a mouse rather than heels. For a country that once called itself the Shopper’s Paradise, e-commerce is turning life for brick and mortar shops into a slowing retail hell.
Even the annual Great Singapore Sale, which targets tourists and has been running for 24 years, cannot forestall the decline. The event has recorded three consecutive years of decline in retail sales, while local media has mocked it as being “not so great any more”.
