RETAIL

REDEFINED
An Industry Transformation Guide
CONTENT
03 RETAIL IN SINGAPORE

04 THE FUTURE OF RETAIL

05 HOW TO STAY IN STYLE

06-07
STRATEGY #1:
GO DIGITAL, GO INTERNATIONAL

08-09 STRATEGY #2:

BUILD A BRAND STORY AND INNOVATE THROUGH R&D

10-11
STRATEGY #3:
RAISE PRODUCTIVITY THROUGH TECHNOLOGY

12-14 STRATEGY #4:

DEVELOP A FUTURE-READY WORKFORCE

15 INITIATIVES AND SCHEMES

16 LEAD AND SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS

RETAIL IN SINGAPORE
Retail shapes the character of Singapore – it underpins the growth of the tourism industry and contributes to
an enhanced quality of life for Singaporeans to live, work and play. There are around 22,000 establishments,
in the retail sector today, contributing almost 1.4% to GDP and 3% of total employment*, making it a key
industry for the nation.

The sector faces several near term challenges – intensified competition and a need to undergo structural
shifts from brick-and-mortar outlets to e-commerce. The sector has to evolve and adapt to major trends like
the omni-channel approach, as well as tap new growth opportunities and remain internationally competitive.

22,000 1.4% OF GDP 3% OF TOTAL

ESTABLISHMENTS EMPLOYMENT

Key Sub-sectors in Retail

FASHION & FURNITURE & JEWELLERY &

SPORTING GOODS FURNISHINGS TIMEPIECES

SUPERMARKETS & CONSUMER DEPARTMENT

CONVENIENCE STORES ELECTRONICS STORES
*SPRING estimates based on 2015 data from the Department of Statistics and Ministry of Manpower

03
THE FUTURE
OF RETAIL
While developments across the globe have increased the purchasing power of people, retailers will find
that the rise in demand comes with increasingly complex expectations. Consumer preferences are
shifting rapidly with the ebb and fall of trends. The wave of globalisation has also brought about an
avalanche of shopping choices for consumers. In addition, the digital revolution has introduced new
methods of shopping – be it through websites or mobile applications, or even through e-marketplaces
– so retailers can no longer rely on their brick-and-mortar shops alone. To find new avenues for growth,
businesses must be able to adapt to the changes with new technology and partnership opportunities.

Evolution of the retail landscape

150 MIL 24/7

Digitally
Connected

01 E-Commerce market
and online explosion
¼ of 400 million people in the
02 Growing customer
expectations
Consumers are better informed and
ASEAN region shop online, and 150 seek both personalised products
million are digitally connected*. and seamless shopping experiences
User penetration in Singapore is across multiple channels.
expected to reach 74%, with about
3.86 million online users by 2020**.

03 Technology and
digitalisation of retail
Retailers need to innovate across
04 The omni-channel
approach
The shopping experience today
their operations and invest in must encompass multiple channels,
digital channels. from the traditional brick and
mortar stores to desktops and
mobile devices.

*Bain Southeast Asia Digital Consumer Survey, Nov 2015

**Statista, 2016

04
HOW TO
STAY IN STYLE
The 2020 vision of the Retail Industry Transformation Map (ITM) is for Singapore to have a vibrant retail
industry. This comprises a mix of highly productive omni-channel retailers and local brand owners with
global footprints, all supported by a professional and skilled workforce.

Strategy #1: Go digital, go international

Strong e-commerce capabilities will enable retailers to better reach
the local and international market. Retailers must integrate stable
e-commerce infrastructure and digital marketing capabilities into
their business models.

Strategy #2: Build a brand story and innovate

through R&D
Retailers are encouraged to foster brand loyalty by developing their
own brands. They can also broaden their reach by differentiating
their online and offline shopping experiences, targeting different
consumers at various touch points.

Strategy #3: Raise productivity

through technology
To overcome manpower constraints, retailers must seek solutions to
streamline processes at both the front-of-house and back-of-house.
The goal is to become increasingly manpower-lean, where workers
engage in higher value-added tasks.

Strategy #4: Develop a future-ready workforce

Lifelong learning is important to upgrade the current talent pool and
equip workers with skills for the future. These include but are not
limited to skills in data analytics and digital marketing.

05
STRATEGY #1:
GO DIGITAL, GO INTERNATIONAL
The omni-channel approach and entering new markets
Rising customer sophistication means that retailers must create seamless shopping experiences across
multiple online and offline channels. To do so, retailers must rethink business models and improve
supply-chain management, last-mile fulfilment processes, IT infrastructure and marketing practices.

Case study 1: CHARLES & KEITH

CHARLES & KEITH is a fashion lifestyle brand recognised for its curated collections of footwear and
accessories. Its strong use of integrated digital solutions has enabled the brand to break into fashion
capitals such as Dubai, Seoul, Shanghai and Taipei.

CHARLES & KEITH was one of the early adopters of e-commerce, setting up its online store as early as
in 2004. The brand began with an e-commerce store running independently from brick and mortar
outlets, but quickly moved to integrate the two by syncing its backend infrastructure. This resulted in
responsive inventory management that allowed shoppers to browse products online and check the
in-store availability of their chosen products should they prefer a physical shopping experience. This
technology also enabled the ease of inventory reconciliation by the merchandise planning team, which
facilitated the planning of a more optimised in-store merchandise mix based on shopper habits,
countries and cities.

Make it a
seamless shopping
experience for me.

Consumers can not only browse products online,

but can also check on its in-store availability.

Syncing their backend infrastructure enabled

CHARLES & KEITH to seamlessly integrate their
e-commerce store with their brick and mortar outlets.

06
CHARLES & KEITH was also quick to jump onto the mobile bandwagon. From 2012 to 2015, it observed
that its site visits from mobile devices had jumped from 20% to 55% – data that motivated the brand to
develop its own mobile shopping app. Together, these diverse platforms – the app, website and
physical stores – facilitated a smooth, seamless, omni-channel shopping experience.

These digital measures also provided CHARLES & KEITH with an avenue to enter global markets
without a physical retail store. This helped the company to overcome the challenges associated with
entering new markets such as finding appropriate shopping spaces, redeployment of labour and
manpower management. These platforms provided efficient analytics and relevant customer insights,
which in turn enabled the brand to complement its stores with a highly accessible e-commerce
proposition. To date, CHARLES & KEITH’s successful market penetration across the globe is attributed
to having a foresight to go digital, as seen in its 42 international shipping destinations worldwide.

In a nutshell

Seamless
omni-channel
shopping
experience

E-Commerce
Back-of-house Front-of-house
• Develops own mobile
• Real-time inventory management • Integrates online and
shopping application
• Merchandise planning team physical stores
• Enters global markets
adapts to customers’ preferences
without physical store

07
STRATEGY #2:
BUILD A BRAND STORY AND
INNOVATE THROUGH R&D
Build your brand story through immersive shopping experiences
Multi-sensory experiences and in-store technology are crucial for brand differentiation and customer
engagement. Customer journey mapping, which enables retailers to understand and address customer
needs, experiential retailing and cutting edge in-store technology are all methods that retailers can use
to differentiate their customer experience.

Case study 2: Commune

Commune is a local furniture design company that

specialises in high-quality artisanal products and offers a
unique customer experience to match.

Curated videos, a signature scent and music – found across

all of its stores – are just part of the multi-sensory Commune
experience. The brand has gone the extra mile to help its
shoppers visualise their dream homes and shop with ease.
One way is through the development of a “co-lab”.
Together with its partners – Nippon Paint, Lamitak, OoLa
Lab, Scene Shang, KBlu, Onlewo, just to name a few – the
“co-lab” enables shoppers to pick and choose
complementary home products and create personalised
mood boards that they can use to gather inspiration and A customer uses Commune’s cutting-edge 3D
decide on how to style their homes. Commune’s flagship planning and VR software to visualise her future home
retail experience centre has taken this personalisation a
step further by offering a 3D floor planner and the use of
virtual reality (VR) simulation. This allows customers to use a In a nutshell
diverse library of wall colours and flooring options to
recreate their existing homes – after which, they can
conveniently place and inspect how Commune’s products
VR
fit seamlessly with their existing decor. 3D floor plan experience

I want a
personalised
experience.

Appealing to
the 6 senses

Elevated customer
experience

08
Develop new products through R&D and collaboration
Data-driven research can help companies enhance their value proposition and compete internationally.
Partnerships with companies from other industries, or even intermediaries like Intellectual Property
Intermediary (IPI) and A*STAR are ways that a firm can tap on different expertise to improve their
capabilities in product development and design.

Case study 3: Nanyang Optical

Nanyang Optical is a local business which invests

heavily in R&D to create not just fashionable, but
also functional eyewear that meets market needs.

With years of experience in eyewear and contact

lenses, Nanyang Optical noticed a gap in the
market: there was an abundance of fashionable, but
not functional eyewear in the industry. To counter
this, Nanyang Optical adopted a user-centric design
methodology and through its subsidiary Eye-Biz,
embarked on a quest to find out what customers
want. This led to the successful launch of various
in-house brands like Urband, Eyelet and Glossi, each
carefully designed to fulfill a specific market need.
This focus on market research also enabled Nanyang
A customer browses a pair of eyewear from Optical to better understand overseas demand and
Nanyang Optical's "Nature Eyes" series, a range of
eyewear made entirely from recycled materials
develop a range of eyewear called “Nature Eyes”,
made entirely from recycled materials. “Nature

Listen, design Eyes” was a hit with the eco-conscious Europe and
America customers, enabling Nanyang Optical to
and develop use it to successfully penetrate the overseas market.
for me.
In a nutshell

Identified Engaged in Developed the Launched

customer pain Research & “S-clip” patented the product
points Development flexible hinge internationally

Developed Used market

in-house brands research to
Adopted Collaborated with Unique selling position product
User-centric intermediaries proposition to and export to
approach to and investment target audience international
product innovation in internal R&D markets

09
STRATEGY #3:
RAISE PRODUCTIVITY
THROUGH TECHNOLOGY
Achieve operational efficiency with technology
In-store analytics can help retailers understand their consumers, while manpower saving technologies
will reduce dependence on labour. All in all, technology plays a crucial role in helping retailers
streamline processes and improve both efficiency as well as product offerings.

Case study 4: Decks

Decks Pte Ltd is the brand owner and retailer of the

beachwear brand, Surfers Paradise.

A desire to expand, coupled with the challenge of a

manpower crunch is what motivated Decks to invest
in retail technologies. They started with improving
their back-of-house operations and introduced a
Radio-Frequency Identification (RFID) system to
address warehousing and logistic needs. This system
improved stock-taking, bringing up the accuracy rate
to a full 99%. This RFID infrastructure also enabled
Decks to introduce new technology solutions at its
front-of-house, like adding a self-checkout counter
for customers with small purchases. In addition to
improving accuracy and operational efficiency, a huge
benefit of these technology solutions was that it
helped to free up manpower from manual tasks. Staff
The RFID system significantly reduces the time
required for inventory management
who are no longer bogged down by complicated
stock-taking and long service lines can better engage
and serve customers with more attentive and

Efficiency is key. personalised service.

In a nutshell

RFID

RFID improves back-of-house • 99% accuracy rate in inventory management

operations & inventory management • Increased operational efficiency
• Improved productivity
• More time to serve customers

10
 Case study 5: Food-Joy

Food-Joy is a minimart that implemented technology

to overcome labour challenges and increase its
operational efficiency.

Food-Joy’s lean five-man team was challenged by cash

management – cashiers needed almost 20 minutes to
count the cash at the end of each day or during
changes in shift. To speed things up, the company
introduced a 2-in-1 self-checkout and cash
management system. This simplified the process and
reduced cash handling time to just two minutes. Staff
were free to manage more checkout kiosks and able
to diversify their job scope with stock-taking and
merchandising. In addition, this technology also
enabled the company to reduce the number of
The introduction of a 2-in-1 self checkout and cash traditional cashier counters by more than 50%.
management system helped Food-Joy increase its Customer queue time fell from three minutes to just
efficiency and levels of customer satisfaction
one minute during peak periods, resulting in an
improved shopping experience. Customer satisfaction
Automation rose due to shorter wait times, especially when they
makes shopping purchased fewer and smaller items.

more convenient
for me.
In a nutshell
Self-check out system
Reduced customer queueing
time to just 1 minute

90% decrease in
Cash management
cash handling time
system

11
STRATEGY #4:
DEVELOP A FUTURE-READY
WORKFORCE
Traditionally, retail in Singapore is a mostly customer-facing and manpower-intensive business. The
ITM’s efforts to drive innovation and productivity will free up manpower resources to serve other
functions, and shift jobs toward those that require more skills.

E-commerce and omni-channel retail models will pave the way towards a leaner workforce with
enhanced functions. For example, front-of-house roles such as cashiers and sales assistants will evolve
to include the roles of brand advocates and even personal shoppers. Employees will also need to be
empowered with the latest in-store technologies, and hence need new skills in digital literacy. At the
back-of-house, there will be an increase in the demand for new specialist technology jobs in emerging
areas such as e-commerce management, digital marketing, data analytics and omni-channel retail
experience design.

Hence, redesigning retail jobs, enhancing career progression pathways and deepening the workforce’s
skills are key for retailers to succeed in the new retail landscape. A deep-skilled retail workforce with
future-ready skills will help retailers capitalise on emerging opportunities.

Under the Jobs & Skills pillar, two key strategies have been identified. These are:
1) Strengthen enterprise capabilities to develop a quality and productive workforce
2) Build a pipeline of deep-skilled workforce

01
Strengthen enterprise capabilities to develop
a quality and productive workforce

Job redesign to support Strengthening

changing business models HR competencies

Retailers to adopt Holistic HR policies ensure

manpower-lean models and opportunities for training
redesign job scopes and career growth

12
Case study 6: Bynd Artisan

Bynd Artisan chose to celebrate its 70-year-old bookbinding business legacy with fully customisable
hand-bound paper notebooks and personalised leather lifestyle products made by craftsmen in their ateliers.

As consumers increasingly turned to digital tools in their everyday life, the business owners of Bynd Artisan
sought to retain the relevance of “old school” paper stationery and leather products. Bynd Artisan was born
to offer customers personalised stationery, allowing customers to get involved with product development
and create items that fit their unique preferences. To help customers appreciate the beauty and intricacies
of the craft, bookbinding and leather working workshops were also offered at the ateliers.

These new measures also enabled the company to redeploy five factory production workers into craft artists
cum retail sales assistants. Understanding the value of the experience these workers had, Bynd Artisan
showcased their expertise as artisans by creating customised notebooks, personalising leather products
on-site for customers, and by conducting crafting workshops. They were also given a chance to develop and
expand their job scopes, taking on roles in service, sales and inventory management. Ultimately, employees
gained a heightened self-esteem and amassed a following of loyal customers in the process. These
founding craftsmen are sharing their skills with the new pool of craftsmen, while also adopting new
technology through the guidance of their younger colleagues.

A craftsman creating a notebook in-store for a customer Arranging the letters according to a customised order

In a nutshell Reskilled workers

improve the
overall retail
experience
for me.
Before
After

Factory production worker In-store craftsmen

• Technical skills • Technical skills
• No interaction with customers • Interpersonal skills
• Involved in sales, service and
inventory management

13
 02Build a pipeline of deep-skilled workforce

The retail sector is quickly shifting towards e-commerce and manpower-learn technologies. To support
this transformation, it is essential that employees be empowered with digital literacy,
global-mindedness and specialist skills.

Case study 7: Atlas Sound & Vision

Atlas Sound & Vision, a premium retailer for

audio-visual products and services in Singapore,
Malaysia and Brunei, was quick to deploy technology
to create an omni-channel retail experience since 2014.

To complete that approach, a flagship showroom was

designed to facilitate an immersive product
experience in an intimate home-style setting. In
addition, to ensure that the customer experience was
consistent across all physical retail stores and e-store,
employee training became a priority. A SkillsFuture
mentor was brought in to develop structured training
programmes, and to see that staff needs were
identified from both a bottom-up and a top-down
Front-of-house staff providing quality service approach. Management and decision-making
procedures shifted to allow for more staff feedback. To

Empowered groom potential employees, a three-month internship

programme with Temasek Polytechnic was rolled out.
employees are These measures were met with success: employee

happier, more engagement peaked and employees voiced that they

gained competence and felt more confident of their
productive and abilities in taking on bigger responsibilities.

more efficient.
In a nutshell

Top-down approach Bottom-up approach

• Training needs • Employees identify their
identified by superiors own weaknesses
• Formal trainings planned by • Trainings planned according
department head to areas requested

Companies that are interested to find out more about

HR initiatives can visit http://www.spring.gov.sg/hcd

14
INITIATIVES
AND SCHEMES
SPRING’s Capability Development Grant SkillsFuture Earn and Learn Programme

The Capability Development Grant SkillsFuture Earn and Learn is a

(CDG) supports SMEs to scale up work-learn programme designed to
business capabilities across ten key give graduates from the ITE and
business areas such as product polytechnics a headstart in careers
development, human capital related to their discipline of study.
development, and business model Suitable candidates will be matched
transformation. The grant provides up with a job related to their field of study
to 70% funding for qualifying expenses and undergo structured on-the-job
such as consultancy, training, training and mentorship in
certification and equipment costs. participating companies, allowing
them to gain industry experience and
attain an industry-recognised
SPRING’s HR Diagnostic certification concurrently.

The HR Diagnostic tool is a starting

point to assess how developed the SkillsFuture SME Mentors Programme
SME’s HR practices and processes are.
The SkillsFuture SME Mentors Programme
It provides a diagnosis of the state of aims to enhance the capabilities of SMEs
the SME’s HR practices and processes, in the area of learning and development.
and identifies strengths and areas of Qualified SkillsFuture SME Mentors will
improvement. It then recommends and be deployed to SMEs on a 9-month
prioritises solutions to enhance human mentoring programme to help diagnose
capital capabilities for business growth. learning and development gaps, provide
guidance on developmental plans and
upgrade the training capability of
SPRING’s HR Shared Services supervisors in SMEs.

The HR Shared Services is an initiative

that enables SMEs to outsource their HR SkillsFuture Study Awards
operations and seek professional
advisory support from a pool of external The monetary award of $5,000 enables
HR providers appointed by SPRING adults in their early and mid-career to
Singapore. This enables SMEs to develop and deepen their skills in the
improve and optimise their HR retail sector.
operational efficiency.

Companies that are interested to find out more may contact

[email protected] or visit www.spring.gov.sg/retail

15
LEAD AND
SUPPORTING
ORGANISATIONS
Lead organisation

SPRING Singapore
SPRING Singapore is an agency under the Ministry of Trade and Industry responsible for helping
Singapore enterprises grow and building trust in Singapore products and services. As the enterprise
development agency, SPRING works with partners to assist enterprises in financing, capability and
management development, and technology and innovation. As the national standards and accreditation
body, SPRING develops and promotes internationally-recognised standards and quality assurance
infrastructure. SPRING also oversees the safety of general consumer goods in Singapore.

SPRING Singapore is the lead government agency for the Retail sector in Singapore.

For more information, please visit www.spring.gov.sg.

Supporting organisations

16
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#01-02 SOUTH TOWER, SOLARIS
SINGAPORE 138628

Connect with us on

www.spring.gov.sg