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The customised support will be based on their retail partners’ specific needs and trades.
CapitaLand is prepared to help its business partners ride through the difficulties brought by the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as it launched wide-ranging support measures for its retail partners running more than 3,500 stores in its malls in Singapore.
“We are reaching out first to our retailers as their businesses have been directly impacted,” said president for Singapore & International, CapitaLand Group Jason Leow.
Furthermore, “as the operator of Singapore’s largest shopping mall network, it is incumbent on CapitaLand to take the lead in showing support for our retailers,” added managing director for Retail, CapitaLand Singapore, Chris Chong.
Leow noted that the customised support will be based on their retail partners’ specific needs and trades, while taking into account the impact of the situation on their stores’ performance across the malls within CapitaLand’s network.
“This will allow us to leverage the strength of CapitaLand’s shopping mall network to offer holistic support, including a $10 million marketing assistance programme.”
The $10 million marketing assistance program will be utilized to support both retailers’ promotions and mall-wide marketing initiatives, including complimentary booking of atrium spaces for merchants and free parking for shoppers during lunch or dinner, among others.
A series of campaign initiatives under the banner “CapitaLand + You” to boost spending has also been aligned.
Aside from the marketing assistance programme, the support measures will likewise include “the flexibility to operate shorter store hours” said Chong.
In fact, from 14 February 2020 until further notice, stores in CapitaLand malls may only operate from no later than 11am and close no earlier than 8pm. No change will be implemented, though, to the malls’ standard operating hours of 10am to 10pm.
Visitors to CapitaLand’s commercial, lodging properties and business park will also be required to check their temperature and present health and travel declarations before entering, while shoppers at CapitaLand malls are required to comply with store-level temperature screening, whenever necessary.
It can be recalled that the Ministry of Health raised Singapore’s Disease Outbreak Response System Condition (DORSCON) to Orange on 7 February 2020.
“CapitaLand has prepared for such a scenario. Since last month, CapitaLand has been enhancing its defenses against COVID-19 and many of the recommended orange-level measures are already in place at its properties,” said CapitaLand.
The said measures include the more frequent cleaning and disinfecting of the premises, creation of isolation rooms and the allocation of escort routes to curtail the contact of suspect cases with the general public.
“By continuing to work hand in hand, I am confident our retail ecosystem will ride through the current challenge,” concluded Chong.
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Victor Kang, Digital Content Specialist at PropertyGuru, edited this story. To contact him about this or other stories, email victorkang@propertyguru.com.sg
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