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SINGAPORE – Department stores and other brick-and-mortar stores here are riding the wave of online shopping, which has increased more than ever due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The coronavirus outbreak has been partly responsible for the impending closure of retail stores, such as the staunch Robinsons. But it has also sparked an e-commerce boom, with online sales in November expected to skyrocket.
Department stores Isetan and Marks & Spencer have started selling their products on the online shopping site Lazada for the first time this year and are also participating in their 11.11 event on Wednesday (November 11).
Metro, which made its debut on Lazada on Black Friday last year, will also offer Singles Day promotions on the platform for the first time this year.
Meanwhile, BHG launched its own shopping site in June, with the 11/11 and Black Friday sales planned.
Black Friday falls on November 27 of this year.
Retailers identified the viral pandemic, which hit Singapore in January, as a push to expand their online presence and activities.
“With social distancing measures encouraging less contact, customer shopping habits have changed rapidly since the start of the pandemic, so we knew it was imperative to develop our offering online,” said Marks & Spencer, who is also offering Black Friday and Singles’ Day Discounts at Lazada for the first time this year.
“The trend toward digital has accelerated and, more importantly, work habits have been transformed, so we adapt and streamline our business model to meet our customers’ purchasing preferences.”
Amos Tan, Senior Lecturer at the Singapore Polytechnic School of Business, said that the reduction in the influx of visitors due to Covid-19 in physical stores and stores that still have to pay rent, made him jump on the bandwagon of shopping online was a sensible measure.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has given people time to get into the habit of shopping online and once they realize they don’t need to go to a store, there is no turning back,” Tan added.
The outbreak has also pushed some stores further into their ongoing digital shift.
Metro said it has focused on e-commerce and multi-channel selling for more than five years to meet the changing needs of customers.
“The Covid-19 pandemic has accelerated this trend and we expect this online boom to continue,” the retailer said.
Online shopping has exploded here due to the pandemic, and online shopping platforms are hoping to record new sales highs.
Between February and April, Shopee’s sales here increased 200 times. The platform also saw a 20-fold increase in Singapore users year-over-year.
Qoo10’s 11.11 sales volume is projected to increase by 25 to 35 percent this year from the previous year, marking a new sales record in the shopping platform’s history for a decade.
Lazada, which has been in Singapore for seven years, raised hundreds of millions in sales in June, breaking its previous highest monthly sales figure that was recorded last November.
“We are confident that this year’s 11/11 will break the records of last year’s 11/11,” a Lazada spokesperson said, adding that it is also seeing more than three times as many vendors participating in its 11/11 sales this year compared to 2019.
To prepare for the expected increase in sales for Singles Day, Shopee has enhanced its mobile app by adding auction and survey features to make Shopee Live sessions, where users can promote products on live streams, more attractive to consumers.
Logistics provider Ninja Van, which processes packages ordered through e-commerce sites, has more than doubled its usual workforce as package volume will triple this Singles Day compared to previous years.
The digital shift comes amid retail sales that have been hit this year due to Covid-19.
The latest government figures show that for eight months since February, monthly retail sales, excluding motor vehicles, have declined from the previous year.
Department stores were among the hardest hit, with sales falling 39.8 percent in September from a year earlier.
For stores like BHG, entering the e-commerce space is a way to connect the online shopping experience with purchasing items in the physical store.
“Customers can choose to have their items delivered to their doorstep or pick them up (at the Bugis Junction store) within four hours, with our new Click and Collect service,” said BHG.
Other brick and mortar establishments have also moved online.
Killiney Singapore coffee chain and Bake Inc bakery began selling their packages of coffee and baked goods respectively on Qoo10 this year for the first time. They will also offer Singles Day promotions.
Bake Inc, which has been around for 15 years, said it never really explored selling its products online in the past until its pineapple tarts garnered attention online.
“We thought about connecting, but we didn’t really have a lot of resources,” said their digital marketing manager, Ms Lorraine Aw.
Then Covid-19 arrived and it became clear that the bakery had to connect. Bake Inc applied for a government grant to help it sell and promote its products on Qoo10.
But digitization doesn’t necessarily mean that retailers are abandoning their physical stores.
Department stores such as Tangs, Metro and BHG, as well as consumer electronics retailers Courts and Harvey Norman, will have sales events this month in their physical stores in addition to those on online platforms.
Sports equipment retailer Under Armor, which began selling in Lazada this year alone, said it will take time for shoppers to return to physical stores in pre-Covid-19 numbers.
However, the retailer opened a new store on Parkway Parade and reopened its Orchard Central store in August and October, respectively.
Under Armor said that meeting the needs and expectations of customers requires both an online and offline presence.
For some consumers, whether they buy online or in physical stores depends on the products. Housewife Julie Loh, 54, plans to buy a Xiaomi robot vacuum online during the Singles Day sales event because it is convenient.
But he added that for expensive items like mattresses and luxury items, he will go to physical stores to buy them during the sales event to check their quality.
“I don’t want to buy something and I have to return it if I don’t like it,” Ms. Loh said.
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