_Singapore: Adopting technology to tackle labour and e-commerce challenges ahead
The Singapore retail market saw modest improvement of overall retail sales at 4.0% y-o-y growth in June 2017 to hit an estimated S$3.7 billion, primarily driven by the sale of watches & jewellery, which recorded a 16.6% y-o-y increase in sales performance. Islandwide rents based on Knight Frank Research saw slight overall decline of 0.3% q-o-q in Q2 2017, as most retailers are seen taking a circumspect approach towards their expansionary plans amid high business operating costs and manpower shortages.
Average Gross Rents of Prime Retail Spaces, Q2 2017
Source: Knight Frank Research
* Prime spaces refer to rental-yielding units between 350 and 1,500 sq ft with the best frontage, connectivity, footfall and accessibility in a mall which are typically ground level of a retail mall and/or the basement level of a retail mall that is linked to a MRT or bus station.
The latter is especially evident in the employment figures in the wholesale and retail trade sector, which registered a steep decline of 4000 headcounts in Q2 2017. Retailers are therefore encouraged to leverage technology to manage these challenges in an increasingly digitised shopping landscape.
Full report of "Q2 2017 Research Bulletin - Singapore Retail" is available here.