Further COVID measures drain some Singaporean retailers of sales by 70%

Shoppers in Singapore on May 15, 2021 before the passages of further restrictions due to the rise of COVID cases

Image source: CNBC/Roslan Rahman/AFP/Getty Images

 

The rising restrictions due to further restrictions over COVID-19 have been hurting sellers of brick and mortar as well as retailers throughout the country.

CNBC has published a story on Friday (July 23) that shows the recent decline of sales nationwide since the outbreak began.

Executive director Rose Tong of the 420-member, not-for-profit organization Singapore Retailers Association or SRA said that some retailers have been experiencing a fall in sales by 30% to 70% at the start of the pandemic.

Tong pointed out on Thursday in “Squaw Box Asia” on CNBC that sales have plummeted between 50% to 80% as the country tightens restrictions further.

The increase of cases of COVID especially in karaoke bars and wet markets prompted the government of Singapore to bring back the tighter measures on Thursday, which includes barring dine-in services and allowing only two-person public gatherings, lasting until August 18.

The Singaporean Ministry of Health reported that 170 cases of COVID-19 broke out recently, with 162 of them through local transmission, and that new cases have been increasing, going from 127 the week before the previous one to 883 last week.

Tong said that the retailers have been paying the full cost of rent amid the decrease of shoppers due to the measures, hoping that the landlords will become more proactive and take a fair share of their burden.

She added that some of them have been seeking rental rebates from the landlords.

Sales going online

The Singaporean government announced a SGD 1.1 billion (USD 808 million) support package to help industries affected by the measures that include a jobs support scheme for sectors such as restaurants, gyms, shops, and cinemas, as well as support for encouraging local retailers to sell online.

Tong said that the SRA has partnered with e-commerce website Lazada to increase turnovers online during the Great Singapore Sale shopping festival from June to July and help boost sales, leading to a high uptake in deliveries to homes, adding that plenty of challenges will arrive while businesses have used digital approaches to increase sales.

She said that sellers face competition from other businesses worldwide, with high costs for deliveries and goods, adding that sellers of brick and mortar retail less than 20% of their products online.

The website of the SRA says that it hires more than 80,000 workers, with an annual revenue of more than SGD 32 billion (USD 23.5 billion).