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After losing some of its lustre in recent years due to the rise of online shopping and traffic congestion, Orchard Road (pictured) will be rejuvenated as a shopping and lifestyle destination by a committee to be headed by three ministers, reported TODAYonline.
Minister for Trade and Industry (Industry) S Iswaran will co-chair the committee with Second Minister for Transport Ng Chee Meng and National Development Minister Lawrence Wong.
To partner with the private sector, the committee is looking at various initiatives including better “pop-up” activities to draw crowds, permanent attractions and more walking options, said Iswaran at the Singapore Retail Industry Conference last Friday (8 September).
He noted that shoppers can look forward to initiatives such as the recently concluded 10-day “Star Wars: Experience the Force Singapore Festival”, which featured augmented and virtual reality experiences.
As part of the yearly Christmas light up activity later in the year, the Orchard Road Business Association (Orba) will partner shopping malls within the precinct as well as players such as MasterCard to lure shoppers with rewards programmes.
He revealed that government agencies are also exploring how more can be done.
Trade agency Spring Singapore, for instance, is working with department stores to study the incubation of local and regional designers, in order to create more avenues for the development of local brands.
“The department stores will serve as launch pads for local brands, building their business capabilities and providing opportunities for market access. For local designers, these will form a holistic package of mentorship on technical and operational capabilities, potential showcase opportunities of their designs in-store, and the opportunity to access overseas markets,” said Iswaran.
Analysts noted that these measures are much needed as traditional brick-and-mortar retailers and department stores face increasing challenges from online retailers.
In fact, an International Benchmarking Study for Retail by The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) showed that consumer electronic players and department stores in Singapore are facing productivity challenges amid high overhead and rental costs.
Initiated by trade agency Spring Singapore, the study aimed to identify how Singapore performed compared to key international markets such as the US, China, UK, Japan, South Korea and Hong Kong.
Emerging as leader and best practices within the retail space, China saw retail sales increase at a compounded annual growth rate of 12.8 percent compared to Singapore’s 3.5 percent.
Romesh Navaratnarajah, Senior Editor at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email romesh@propertyguru.com.sg
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