Knight Frank says it expects Singapore retail rents to decline by 10 to 15 per cent over the course of this year due to the pressures of a global recession and little international travel.

In a quarterly market report the real estate company said that with the retail landscape transformed it is increasingly important for retailers to adopt multiple sales platforms.

“The silver lining in the Covid-19 crisis is the acceleration of digital adoption by retailers and shoppers,” said Knight Frank head of retail Ethan Hsu.

“The circuit breaker and global lockdown have ushered in a fresh wave of e-commerce and those who do not swim with the tide face a grim reality of survival in the new retail landscape.”

Supermarkets and hypermarkets performed strongly during the second quarter, while other parts of the sector continue to underperform, according to its research.

Overall retail sales fell by 24.2 per cent year on year, the 17th consecutive month-on-month decrease in the retail sales index since February 2019.

Sales in supermarkets and hypermarkets, however, rose 41.7 per cent year on year, while sales in minimarts and convenience stores rose 5.4 per cent.

Conversely, sales in food retailing fell 47.4 per cent, department stores 68.4 per cent, healthy and beauty 31.9 per cent, fashion 61.9 per cent and furniture and household goods 17.9 per cent.