The Singaporean economy is not doing so well and shopping malls are no longer fully occupied. Consumers are holding tightly onto their wallets, making it tough for retail outlets to make ends meet and leading to lower occupancy in malls.
An analysis conducted by Colliers shows that the rate of vacant space around the submarkets of Orchard has risen 0.7% to 8.7%. This has been the highest recorded percentage since 2011.
Now, Singapore is even seeing a drop in tourism purchases since 2010, with a drop in overall spending to $22 bn. Analysts from RHB Research Institute of Singapore informed Straits Times that our country has too many malls for a small country.
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Analyst said “Singapore is at the top of Asia when it comes to the concentration of retail space per capita at 1.08 square metres – KL’s concentration pales in comparison at 0.71 square metres per capita.”
Local brands and online markets are picking up on demand instead, since they are cheaper. FairPrice’s supermarket chain and online retail giant, Taobao, are among the names that’s been picking up steadily.
The Great Singapore Sale is in need of an uplift too. Quite a number of consumers commented that the 23-year old sales plan is not really that great anymore.
So it is time for malls and retailers to innovate and entice shoppers back to the physical realm of shopping. Frasers Centrepoint is doing just that as they intend to integrate shopping with other lifestyle needs of a consumer.
Frasers Centrepoint is adding a splash of new retailers to their shop lots like Cold Storage and Honolulu Café, hoping it will help cementing the mall as a destination store to consumers.
(Source: Yahoo Finance)