DIY Or Die: Singapore's Brick And Mortars Turn To Experiential Shopping To Survive

Some stores on the lion city’s high street allow for the personalisation of bags, jewellery, and ice cream.

- Sandra Sendingan

As a growing number of establishments in Singapore close up shop after falling to the might of e-commerce, analysts are placing their bets that experiential retail is set to give Singaporeans a reason to go beyond their online shopping apps, visit malls again, and breathe life into the struggling sector.

“Retailing has always involved the constant refreshing of offerings and concepts to retain and grow customer followings,” Huey Ying Tay, JLL head of research & consultancy told Singapore Business Review. “But the rise of e-commerce giants has brought the competition to a whole new playing field and retailers now have to relearn the art of retailing and be ever more creative and nimble in exploring strategies to bring foot traffic back to the stores.”

The e-commerce phenomenon has been riding on the back of Singapore’s high mobile penetration rates and expansive internet coverage with online sales expected to hit S$10b ($7.4b) within 2017 to 2020, according to BMI Research, as retail giants like Lazada, Amazon, and Taobao increasingly knock on Singapore as a gateway to Asia.

For brick and mortar retailers, however, it’s a whole other story. Although vacancy has narrowed slightly to 7.4% QoQ in Q4 from 8.2% after three straight quarters of decline, retailers are still treading cautiously and holding back expansion plans amidst slowing sales and supply risks poised to last up until 2019 that have killed off some of the lion city’s best-loved brands.