HOW TO REVIVE THE GSS
Despite the attractiveness of e-commerce, the pandemic kept consumers away from physical stores for the past two years and more. Measures like checking in at every store with SafeEntry or TraceTogether deterred some shoppers from casually entering a shop to browse.
Now that almost all COVID-19 restrictions have been lifted, consumers may yearn to visit brick-and-mortar stores once more – to try on shoes, touch the material of clothing or feel how the latest mobile phone sits in their hands, before finalising a purchase.
While online shopping engages us through sight and sound, retailers can seek to engage the other senses: Smell, taste and touch. Pop-up food stalls, restaurant weeks and carnivals can entice customers back to the malls.
It might be challenging to compete with online shopping platforms solely on discounts and deals. Instead, retailers could look beyond that to consider how to create an integrated retail experience, such as issuing e-vouchers for redemption at physical stores, or collaborating with F&B establishments to promote cross-category consumption, such as offering dining vouchers with a minimum in-store retail spending.
Younger consumers who consider online shopping a way of life could be drawn in by novel retail experiences that could include augmented reality, art installations or livestreaming. Experiences that entertain them and provide shareable content lean into the habits of the digital natives.
The GSS doesn’t have to slide into irrelevance. Concerted efforts are needed to re-establish the uniqueness and vibrancy of this national shopping event. It is high time to put the great back into the GSS again.
Charlene Chen is Assistant Professor of Marketing, Nanyang Business School, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Elison Lim and Kuangjie Zhang are Associate Professors of Marketing at the same University.
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