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Chitchat 154th Media:- Orchard Road must provide Sexperience to Survive!

Pinkieslut

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Why retail shopping in Singapore is in real trouble


Orchard Road has fallen from grace in the eyes of Singaporean shopaholics.

Heck, even rich tai tais and Chinese tourists have decided to spend their money online or in other countries, which explains why the formerly bustling shopping belt is now about as happening as Lim Chu Kang, with lacklustre sales and empty units galore.

To make matters worse, a recent PayPal study shows that brick-and-mortar retailers in Singapore have even more to be worried about.



Photo: Paypal
Singaporeans are spending more and more money online

Online shopping has been blamed for the struggles of Singapore shopping malls. Well, this is a trend that looks likely to continue for some time to come.

Read also: Fast Retailing ties up with Singapore creatives for Uniqlo's new flagship

The survey found that 38 per cent of the adults interviewed predicted that they would be spending even more money online in 2017, with 78 per cent of these people citing convenience as a key reason.

With more and more retailers offering customers online options or operating on a purely online basis, it appears those who don't adapt are going to lose out.

Mobile shopping is on the rise, too

Brick and mortar retailers need to worry about the astronomic growth of mobile shopping, too.

Shopping on mobile devices like smartphones is expected to increase by 42 per cent in 2017 to make up $1.2 billion worth of transactions-one third of Singaporeans' forecasted online spending for the year.

At least now you know what all those people staring at their phones on the MRT will be doing.

No tenants, and no shoppers

Source:

Singaporeans are the most confident cross-border online shoppers in the region

Singaporeans have taken to online shopping like ducks to water. There hasn't been much paranoia about security, or too many worries about undelivered mail.

No wonder Singaporeans have been ranked Asia Pacific's most confident cross-border online shoppers.

Payment technologies are now very secure, and the corporates have also had a part to play in promoting online transactions.

For instance, MasterCard's Zero Liability campaign, featuring Hugh Jackman, aims to reassure customers that they won't be made to pay for unauthorised or fraudulent transactions.



Singaporeans' propensity to shop online also indicates that shoppers are all too ready to abandon brick-and-mortar retailers for their electronic counterparts.

What does this mean for brick-and-mortar retailers?

When Singaporeans have something in mind they want to buy, they are now more likely to first search for it online than to waste hours of their lives squeezing with crowds in shopping malls.

In order to make sales, brick-and-mortar stores are often forced to wait till potential customers are physically out shopping, and then hope they have the right products in the right place at the right time that can catch their eye and convince them to buy.

As if that wasn't bad enough, physical retailers often find it hard to compete with online retailers in terms of price, as their overheads are so much higher. Not only do they have to contend with paying greedy landlords high rents, they also have difficulty competing with online retailers' product ranges, as extensive product ranges demand bigger storage and display spaces.

What can retail shops do?

Physical retailers who insist on maintaining a brick-and-mortar presence will need to change their business models in order to offer unique experiences that online retailers can't provide.

For instance, many retailers are turning their premises into event or lifestyle spaces that offer more than the chance to buy stuff. Kinokuniya organises in-store events such as meet-the-author sessions and panel discussions, while retail/cafe hybrids like In Good Company, a fashion boutique with its own bakery cafe, are becoming increasingly common.

Exclusivity is another thing that can get people out of their homes, as evidenced by the long queues each time H&M has a limited edition designer collaboration. Instead of trying to compete by offering what online retailers are already selling at lower prices, brick-and-mortar retailers can focus on offering exclusivity. This could translate to much smaller retail spaces and a narrower product range which focuses on limited-edition or hard-to-find products.

You can't turn back time, so retailers shouldn't expect customers to someday go back to their previous shopping habits. It's up to them to change if they want to survive.
 

Wunderfool

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That's why the government is trying to revitalize the whole Orchard Road belt by turning it into pedestrian shopping belt; a copycat of the Shanghai 's Pedestrian's Street stretching all the way to the Bund.
 

AhNehs

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I was in Bangkok with an upper middle class ATB recently. Brought her to Central World, Siam Square and Platinum Mall as it was her first time there.

Every thing that she sees and want to buy, she would whip out her Apple phone, check whether Taobao has the item and if so, is it cheaper. If it is the same or or more expensive, she will pass.

At Platinum Mall, she commented that in Shanghai, there used to be lots of such stalls, but now, it's declining rapidly as the sellers put them on Taobao.

Thats life folks for brick and mortar malls. :biggrin:
 

frenchbriefs

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My online retail business is huating!!Well not really...I only sold 10 items this month,$160 sales and $60 profit.
 
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frenchbriefs

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That's why the government is trying to revitalize the whole Orchard Road belt by turning it into pedestrian shopping belt; a copycat of the Shanghai 's Pedestrian's Street stretching all the way to the Bund.

Does the government know what the temperature is like in China and Hong Kong and Melbourne.open air my ass,they already tried the open air shopping mall in the west and it sucks donkey balls.
 

Pinkieslut

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I was in Bangkok with an upper middle class ATB recently. Brought her to Central World, Siam Square and Platinum Mall as it was her first time there.

Every thing that she sees and want to buy, she would whip out her Apple phone, check whether Taobao has the item and if so, is it cheaper. If it is the same or or more expensive, she will pass.

At Platinum Mall, she commented that in Shanghai, there used to be lots of such stalls, but now, it's declining rapidly as the sellers put them on Taobao.

Thats life folks for brick and mortar malls. :biggrin:

Was your ATB booked online too? :wink:
 

johnny333

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In Spore the greedy landlords & gov't has increased the cost of shopping in Spore. This is probably why Sporeans "have taken to online shopping like ducks to water".
 

AhNehs

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In Spore the greedy landlords & gov't has increased the cost of shopping in Spore. This is probably why Sporeans "have taken to online shopping like ducks to water".

Yep. Agree.

By the way, is there really a need to buy so many things in life. I buy a pair of shoes. It last me for a while, usually a year or so. When it is beyond presentable, I walk to a shoe boutique, try a new pair, put it on and ask the salesperson to dump the old pair, pay and walk out. I have been doing so for years.

Hence I really don't understand why do women buy so many pair of shoes. Well, maybe I am a man.. nothing to match my shoes with clothes :biggrin:

But seriously speaking, there are lots of people who buy more than they need.

PS : I am still wearing the same singlets I go to sleep with for the last 10 years...
 

jw5

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Yep. Agree.

By the way, is there really a need to buy so many things in life. I buy a pair of shoes. It last me for a while, usually a year or so. When it is beyond presentable, I walk to a shoe boutique, try a new pair, put it on and ask the salesperson to dump the old pair, pay and walk out. I have been doing so for years.

Hence I really don't understand why do women buy so many pair of shoes. Well, maybe I am a man.. nothing to match my shoes with clothes :biggrin:

But seriously speaking, there are lots of people who buy more than they need.

PS : I am still wearing the same singlets I go to sleep with for the last 10 years...

Please do not ask the salesperson to dump the old pair. :rolleyes::eek::biggrin:

https://www.sammyboy.com/showthread...one-after-being-told-she-cannot-get-a-product

attachment.php
 

zhihau

Super Moderator
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That's why the government is trying to revitalize the whole Orchard Road belt by turning it into pedestrian shopping belt; a copycat of the Shanghai 's Pedestrian's Street stretching all the way to the Bund.

Brick and mortar version of retail is going the way of the dodos. Even Prof Ben Leong says so.
 

tanwahtiu

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Mall owners charge 10% commision on every sale from each shop. Why pay to gangster PAP the bully.

Buy online pass the saving to buyers. Can cheat the delivery couriers pay them peasnuts to deliver.

Why not sell online then.
 

johnny333

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Yep. Agree.

By the way, is there really a need to buy so many things in life. I buy a pair of shoes. It last me for a while, usually a year or so. When it is beyond presentable, I walk to a shoe boutique, try a new pair, put it on and ask the salesperson to dump the old pair, pay and walk out. I have been doing so for years.

Hence I really don't understand why do women buy so many pair of shoes. Well, maybe I am a man.. nothing to match my shoes with clothes :biggrin:

But seriously speaking, there are lots of people who buy more than they need.

PS : I am still wearing the same singlets I go to sleep with for the last 10 years...


I notice that the only businesses thriving are the female oriented types: selling handbags & shoes, beauty places, nails, .... etc
Adelphi is an example of this trend. In the past it was dominated by stores selling guy toys i.e. HiFi equipment.

I bought my 1st pair of Skechers locally over a year ago. Surprised that for a cheap(er) brand the shoe has shown little wear. I intent to get another pair from Amazon so that I don't have to wear the same shoe every day, something I have been doing with my 1st pair of Skechers.
 

frenchbriefs

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Just like what email did to post office. :biggrin:

but if online retail business is booming, then post office will also be booming.do u know how much it cost to deliver a package 600g or smaller?trust me sinkies aint shopping much online yet,growing maybe,but not at the level the americans are doing.
 
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