The countdown to the closure of the Challenger flagship store at Funan DigitaLife Mall has begun.
Challenger Technologies has launched a clearance sale to shift all the remaining stock at the store, which is closing prior to the shopping centre’s demolition and redevelopment by Capitaland after July 1.
In a store-wide promotion, stock will be discounted by up to 80 per cent until June 30- or until it all sells out. Promotions have been launched on Facebook and other media promoting the closing down sale.
Challenger Technologies, the state’s largest IT products and services provider, announced the closure last December and his since signed a lease for a new flagship at Raffles City.
The DigitaLife Mall store comprises 53,000 sqft (4924 sqm) and was already trading when Challenger Technologies listed in 2004. Back then it accounted for about 60 per cent of the group’s retail sales, but such has been the company’s growth, in the third quarter of last year it’s share of turnover was down to 20 per cent.
While the company has signed up for new space at raffles City, CEO Loo Leong Thye has downplayed the future role of traditional retail stores in the sale of consumer electronic goods.
“We can stock 10 times more products online than at our megastore, creating a mega mall effect for customers to browse and transact on their mobile devices. We need to go where the customers are,” he said at the time the flagship’s closure was announced.
“Our physical retail stores will evolve to become more experiential, with our brand partners having better concepts to showcase their products’ capabilities. They will complement our online store, which will serve customers at their own time – not dictated by a mall’s operating hours.”
The group will keep its physical store expansion options open.
Loo says the concept of a destination specialist shopping mall is not as relevant as being able to provide a wider range of products for customers to browse on-the-go.
“Our retail strategy has always been and will continue to see us expanding at suitable locations with reasonable rentals,” Loo said. “We will continue to rationalise our retail store locations, including opening, closing and right-sizing our stores to improve operating performance.
“Over the last seven years, many of our members and even tourists have also begun shopping at our heartland mall stores because of proximity convenience.”
