I refer to the article, “Trouble ahead for stores as e-shopping bug bites” (March 21). In January, the Singapore Industrial Automation Association led a group of delegates on a study mission to Taipei.
This team, comprising members from local small and medium enterprises and research institutes, visited the Taipei City Government Office and a number of shopping centres, including Taipei 101.
The delegation also attended the 2015 International Internet of Things Retail InnoService Conference organised by Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry. The report submitted to the executive council shared a number of alarming, yet expected, findings.
Here, I share some suggestions from the report on how to deal with the “e-shopping bug”.
First, Singapore shopping centres and chain stores must adopt technology to re-engage with the new generation of shoppers.
During the trip, besides Taipei 101, case studies of successful malls in Shanghai and Canada were discussed. Smart retail “Solomo” technology has been used to integrate social media, location-based technology and mobile apps to attract shoppers back to the shopfront.
If the e-shopping bug is biting, smart retail adopts online-to-offline (O2O) technologies to bring customers back to the cashier desk and increase the conversion rate.
Second, marketing dollars must be shifted to O2O customer relationship management solutions, as most Singapore shopping centres still organise traditional marketing programmes such as hefty discounts or promotional foyer campaigns to attract customer traffic.
Yes, customers may go to a mall to enjoy a show, but what is the conversion rate of customers who buy products?
In China, shopping centres tie up with mobile app providers to “share and fare”; such marketing efforts have a higher return on investment. It has been noted that consumer buying behaviour has shifted to a higher bias towards online evaluation.
Shopping centres can no longer wait for shoppers to go to the store for the salesperson to start selling. With sufficient online marketing efforts, the customers who walk through the retail door have a higher propensity to spend.
Third, the Internet has made the world flatter and easier to access within means. For mall operators to be successful, they must find out what is happening on the other side of the world.
They must learn how some of the successful shopping centres in China have leapfrogged us and attracted customers to buy more despite the e-shopping bug. Disruptive technology must be turned into our advantage.
If we sit and wait, we will one day wake up to find that someone has “moved our cheese”.
The writer is a founding member of Internet of Things Asia, which runs a conference track on smart retail. He is also the chief executive officer and director of HutCabb Services.
This team, comprising members from local small and medium enterprises and research institutes, visited the Taipei City Government Office and a number of shopping centres, including Taipei 101.
The delegation also attended the 2015 International Internet of Things Retail InnoService Conference organised by Taiwan’s Institute for Information Industry. The report submitted to the executive council shared a number of alarming, yet expected, findings.
Here, I share some suggestions from the report on how to deal with the “e-shopping bug”.
First, Singapore shopping centres and chain stores must adopt technology to re-engage with the new generation of shoppers.
During the trip, besides Taipei 101, case studies of successful malls in Shanghai and Canada were discussed. Smart retail “Solomo” technology has been used to integrate social media, location-based technology and mobile apps to attract shoppers back to the shopfront.
If the e-shopping bug is biting, smart retail adopts online-to-offline (O2O) technologies to bring customers back to the cashier desk and increase the conversion rate.
Second, marketing dollars must be shifted to O2O customer relationship management solutions, as most Singapore shopping centres still organise traditional marketing programmes such as hefty discounts or promotional foyer campaigns to attract customer traffic.
Yes, customers may go to a mall to enjoy a show, but what is the conversion rate of customers who buy products?
In China, shopping centres tie up with mobile app providers to “share and fare”; such marketing efforts have a higher return on investment. It has been noted that consumer buying behaviour has shifted to a higher bias towards online evaluation.
Shopping centres can no longer wait for shoppers to go to the store for the salesperson to start selling. With sufficient online marketing efforts, the customers who walk through the retail door have a higher propensity to spend.
Third, the Internet has made the world flatter and easier to access within means. For mall operators to be successful, they must find out what is happening on the other side of the world.
They must learn how some of the successful shopping centres in China have leapfrogged us and attracted customers to buy more despite the e-shopping bug. Disruptive technology must be turned into our advantage.
If we sit and wait, we will one day wake up to find that someone has “moved our cheese”.
The writer is a founding member of Internet of Things Asia, which runs a conference track on smart retail. He is also the chief executive officer and director of HutCabb Services.
