Innovate or die: Singapore retailers advised to reinvent as brick and mortar shops lose lustre

Some brands are even advertising via Snapchat.

In a fast-paced and technologically-savvy city-state such as Singapore, brick and mortar shops of retailers, however traditional, may not be adequate anymore.

According to a report by Cushman and Wakefield, Italian luxury brand Prada, for example, has announced plans to advertise via Snapchat, and will be offering their range of goods online.

Additionally, the Singapore Tourism Board is using WeChat and Baidu Connect, and other online travel services and social review sites to reach out to independent Chinese travelers.

“Thus, it is essential for all major stakeholders to reinvent their operations to drive the retail scene forward,” the report noted, highlighting the inevitable paradigm shift.

Meanwhile, to combat the surge of e-commerce, the report said retailers are increasing F&B components in shopping malls and department stores, as such experience-based concepts are irreplaceable by online retail.

“For instance, Muji Café and Meal will be opening their second outlet in Raffles City, and a cluster of 16 restaurants will open in Wisma Atria’s Japan Food Town. In addition, Robinsons the Heeren welcomed Angela May Food Chapters in this quarter,” the report added.

Reaching the people who run Asia's businesses is harder than it used to be.

Inboxes are crowded. Attention is short. The executives you most want to reach — the founders, CFOs, and operators who actually move budgets — are the hardest to find through the usual channels. If you're building a company, a category, or a reputation, you already know this.

We've spent twenty years building the room they read. Singapore Business Review is where senior decision makers in Singapore and across Southeast Asia come for business coverage they can't get elsewhere — in print, online, and in person at the summits and roundtables we host across seven markets.

If you have something these readers should know about — a point of view worth publishing, a product worth their attention, an event worth their time — we'd like to hear what you're trying to do.

Book a meeting

| Or download the media kit (PDF)

240,000 senior readers quarterly in print Top 1,700 Singapore companies reached

7 markets across Southeast Asia