ue’ among shoppers. While retailers could once count on the GSS to drive reliable crowds in-store and deliver a sales boost during tough times, that is no longer the case. And yet, the cost of living continues to rise in Singapore, consumers are tightening their spending habits, reducing brand loyalty and opting for budget-friendly options. So how can bricks-and-mortar experiences survive in this climate? Brien Chua, founder of Sheldon Global, Singapore’s leading home and living company, believes the key is offering hyper-personalised physical shopping experiences. Sheldon Global was founded in 2014 in Singapore, with core activities in retail and e-commerce of household and lifestyle products. It brings together six major house brands, each with different product focus, creating a broad portfolio of home and lifestyle products. Last year, Mr. Chua amassed every drop of entrepreneurial spirit that resides within him and took the bold move to create his own home and lifestyle brand – Houze.  Coupled with years of experience in retail and e-commerce, Mr Chua is confident in putting Houze at the forefront of the home and living scene in Singapore and South East Asia. The Great Singapore Sale Chua is not particularly surprised by the decline of the GSS, but he acknowledged that it is still a shocking development for retailers in Singapore. He believes that the event’s decline is tied mainly to the lack of large brand activations that are attractive enough for locals and tourists from neighbouring countries, and thinks it’s time to reinvent Singapore’s retail scene. “The consistent sales across all countries and economies, coupled with much more aggressive marketing campaigns by other countries has attracted even local Singaporeans to head abroad to shop,” he told Inside Retail. He also noted that other countries have repositioned themselves as duty-free shopping havens in the past 10 years and have seen huge waves of shoppers heading there. In short, Singapore is no longer the region’s shopping haven, nor is it the cheapest anymore. “Mammoth retailers will still expand due to aligning management and shareholders’ interests, but for us, focusing on achieving a well-rounded omnichannel experience is the approach we will and should take,” he elaborated. Evolving habits Chua noted that the retail landscape has drastically changed over the past decade, largely due to the Covid-19 pandemic, which drove shoppers away from bricks-and-mortar stores and straight to e-commerce platforms out of necessity.  “That being said, we still see customers making their way down to bricks-and-mortar stores to touch and feel the products, then making their purchases online, especially when it comes to big-ticket items like furniture,” he said. He went on to say that around 60 per cent of Singaporean consumers are more loyal if they can shop in-store and finish their purchase online, or vice versa. “We believe an omnichannel approach to retail would be the best approach moving forward, as it allows business owners to capture market share from a myriad of channels and cater to evolving demands from a range of consumers,” he added. Additionally, he said that sustainability and issues surrounding the environment have grown in relevance over the years. Consumers in APAC are also becoming more environmentally and socially conscious.  “They are turning to like-minded brands that they can relate to regarding sustainability, social responsibility, and ethical business practices, with many altering their buying habits to more eco-friendly alternatives and brands,” he noted. Innovative strategies Chua believes that seasonal pop-ups and more engaging activities in-shop to curate the shopping experience for customers can be quite beneficial in supplementing the online shopping journey. Moving forward, demand for more personalised customer experiences will require retailers to use proprietary data to offer individual customers the right product recommendations and insights on-site. This will enable businesses to gain a competitive advantage by driving customer loyalty. Sheldon Global  is looking to engage customers through Whatsapp Business, and also offer personalised shopping services via TikTok shops and Facebook Live. To ensure it’s a true omnichannel experience, Chua is focused on ensuring these digital offerings complement the in-store experience. “We have just started expanding our online presence into markets in Malaysia and the US, with a portion of our goods over there now. Our current strategy is to expand into ASEAN markets by appointing distributors, or forming joint ventures with the market leaders,” he stressed. At the same time, many small and medium-sized enterprises in Singapore are struggling with a shortage of skilled labour, with a recent survey conducted by NTUC stating that 44 per cent of retail employees plan to leave the sector next year. As such, Chua believes it is imperative that businesses look to offload labour-intensive tasks and create more opportunities for employees to explore upskilling and growth opportunities. Sheldon Global’s automation system, for instance, bears the brunt of production workloads and handles repetitive, labour-intensive tasks such as loading, unloading, and transporting fragile and heavy products.  “This allows our employees to take on supervisory roles and engage in more opportunities to upgrade by acquiring new technical skills on the job,” Chua concluded.