The post effects of SARS and world economy downturn will lead to a further 1.5 per cent fall in retail sales for the rest of the year. While retailers are blaming the poor conditions for their lower takings, many do not realize that the answer to their problems lies just beside them - the home crowd.
According to Mr Calvin Yew, founder of ShoppingLifestyle.Com – a local Shopping Infomediary website, retailers have to begin using their creativity to innovate and to position their product offerings apart from the rest. “The new generation of ‘big spenders’ are a very sophisticated lot. Discount cards, loyalty bonuses and 50% storewide discounts are too often seen.” He states. “Instead they have to find ways to make them stand out amongst the crowd and attract attention. Singapore is not a very big place and one simple innovation will be more than enough to capture island wide interest. A very good example is QB House’s 10 minute haircut.”
Modern day consumers are also listening more to their peers for recommendations rather than believing what they see. With products reaching almost similar quality and prices, customer service becomes a very important factor. “There are many cases whereby a person enters a shop with intention to purchase but soon leaves because of bad service from ‘stuck-up’ sales assistants. This can be reflected from the increasing number of complaints lodged on ShoppingLifestyle.Com’s consumer forum. Retailers have to be careful not to be labeled as ‘bad service’ providers by consumers.” continues Calvin.
According to MasterCard, young executive ‘big spenders’ will have $8 billion to spend by 2006. But before retailers can get a share of the pie, they have to buck up in terms of service and innovation.
ShoppingLifestyle.Com is a new concept local Shopping Infomediary aimed at bringing consumers the latest shopping news, promotions and other free goodies, positioning itself as the one-stop internet resource for consumers.
