Food
With the rising trend of consumers buying lower-value goods online, shopping malls are likely to attract higher-priced fashion and beauty brands, while malls that integrate digital-savvy retailers are likely to gain market share, research from property consultancy JLL has shown.
Ms Regina Lim, national director, Advisory & Research, Capital Markets at JLL, said: “We expect to see more Singapore residents using multiple channels to shop over the next three years. Online purchases of non-experiential goods such as groceries, household and electronic goods are likely to grow exponentially.
“Suburban malls may cut back on space for these trades while increasing the allocation to clothing/footwear, health/beauty, F&B, and gifts and toys. Well-managed suburban malls could do well in 2016, gaining market share in a challenging market. By pro-actively managing the tenant mix and attracting more higher-priced brands, suburban retail mall rents could remain healthy and grow,” she added.
As more consumers shopped online, and with more Singaporeans shopping overseas while tourist retail spending dropped, retail sales growth in Singapore has slowed over the last three years, leading to islandwide retail rents falling by 4 per cent in 2015, said JLL.
About 1.44 million Singapore residents shopped online in 2014, 30 per cent higher than in 2012, the property consultancy cited Infocomm Development Authority data as showing. The sharp increase came from shoppers over 35, as those in this group who used portable devices to access the Internet rose 50 per cent over two years. Over 70 per cent of those under 35 had already shopped online in 2012, showed the data.
More shoppers buying groceries, computer equipment online
Other than airline and movie tickets, Singapore residents are increasingly buying clothing, footwear and groceries, as well as household and electronic goods, online, according to the study by JLL. The number of shoppers buying groceries and computer equipment rose about 70 per cent in the last two years, it said.
Online sales of groceries and electronic goods are expected to grow exponentially in the next three years, said JLL. Over 60 per cent of shoppers already buy some clothing/footwear online, and this seems to have stagnated. Increasingly, shoppers buy lower-value goods online and higher-value goods priced above S$500 in a physical store, it added.
