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  • Singapore retail sales lags last Month

    Singapore retail sales lags last Month

    Singapore retail sales slid by 1.5 percent in March, after excluding motor vehicle sales from the data. According to Statistics Singapore, most retail categories recorded lower sales for the month compared with the same period last year. Sales of optical goods and books fell by 6.4 percent and of computers and telecommunications equipment by 4.9 percent.

    Food retailers, watch and jewelry retailers, and department stores reported sales declines of between 4.6 percent and 5.7 percent.

    In contrast, sales of medical goods and toiletries rose by 2.8 percent, due in part to higher demand for cosmetics. Supermarkets and hypermarkets registered sales growth of 0.9 percent.

    Month on month, Singapore retail sales were essentially stable.

    The total market for March was estimated at $3.8 billion, with online sales comprising about 5.3 per cent.

    Year-on-year sales of food and beverage services in Singapore rose by 0.7 percent in March.

    On a seasonally adjusted basis, sales of food and beverage services increased 1.3 percent month on month.

    Total sales value for the sector was $868 million, compared to $863 million in March last year.

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  • SM Retail Achieves Small Profit Boost

    SM Retail Achieves Small Profit Boost

    SM Retail has achieved a first-quarter profit increase of 5 percent to P2.7 billion (US$51.7 million).

    Retail revenues in the first three months rose by 13 percent year-on-year to P79 billion, while sales from specialty retail stores grew by the same percentage to P19.6 billion.

    As at the end of March, SM Retail had 2385 stores, comprising 63 department stores, 1388 specialty retail stores, 57 SM Supermarkets, 53 SM Hypermarkets, 194 Savemore, 52 WalterMart, and 578 Alfamart stores.

    The figures were included in the quarterly report of SM Investments, which boosted its profit by 26 percent to PHP10.7 billion (US$205 million).

    The gains reflected improved sales from the retail business as well as its property and banking activities.

    Consolidated revenues during the period were up 15 percent year-on-year to PHP109 billion ($2.1 billion).

    “We continued to deliver double-digit growth to both our top and bottom line in the first quarter,” said SMIC president Frederic DyBuncio. “Performance was strong across our businesses, particularly for our banks.”

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  • Indonesian Retail Sales Down Last Month

    Indonesian Retail Sales Down Last Month

    Indonesian retail sales grew by 10.1 percent in March following a 9.1 percent increase in February, according to central bank survey data.

    The strong March performance was underpinned by sales of apparel along with automotive parts and accessories.

    However, the bank’s survey predicted that Indonesian retail sales growth will rise by a more modest 5.7 percent in April, the same figure it projects for the full year.

  • DBS Rolls Out Customer Center of the Future

    DBS Rolls Out Customer Center of the Future

    DBS has retrained its customer center employees to take on new roles as customers become more digitally savvy. Voice biometrics specialists, live chat agents, and customer experience designers are among the 13 new job roles that DBS Bank has introduced in recent years as it creates the customer center of the future, the bank said in a media statement on Thursday.

    As it creates the customer center of the future, the bank has upskilled and retrained over 500 customer center employees and eliminated common customer pain points such as long waiting times. «By investing in our people, we have been able to transform from a labor-intensive department with a high turnover rate to one that is technology-enabled where employees are more fulfilled and armed with future-forward skills,» said Geeta Sreeraman, DBS’ Head of Customer Centre, Singapore.

    Customer centers are traditionally labor-intensive departments. At DBS Singapore, its customer center processes over four million inbound customers’ calls every year. But with new digital initiatives and new roles created, call volumes have dropped 12 percent over the last year. Over the next three years, the bank predicts call volumes will drop by a further 20 percent.

    As customers become more digitally-savvy, DBS has expanded its service channels online and on social media to serve its customers. DBS’ customer center has also incorporated technologies such as voice biometrics, chatbots, and data analytics so that callers can experience shorter call waiting times and opt to resolve their banking queries independently via the bank’s website, on their mobile banking app or through the bank’s Facebook or Twitter channels.

    In 2017, DBS committed to investing S$20 million over five years to equip employees with digital skills to become a future-ready workforce. Since then, the bank has rolled out a company-led Professional Conversion Programme (PCP), an AI-based learning tool available 24/7 and scholarships that encourage peer-to-peer learning.

    The new roles in DBS’ Customer Center are:

    1. Social media relations manager
    2. ‘Live’ chat agent
    3. Customer experience designer
    4. Demand manager
    5. Mobile app developer
    6. Business intelligence lead
    7. Content creator
    8. Knowledge platform designer
    9. Voice biometrics specialist
    10. Natural language processing engineer
    11. Scrum master
    12. Digital evangelist
    13. VTM manager
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  • Little Dip in Hong Kong Retail Sales Last Month

    Little Dip in Hong Kong Retail Sales Last Month

    Hong Kong retail sales in March slipped by a negligible 0.2 percent, a slower decline than the 1.6 percent of January and February combined.

    But figures from the Census and Statistics Department show first-quarter retail sales were still down 1.2 percent year on year.

    After netting out the effect of price changes over the same period, the provisional estimate of the volume of retail sales in March decreased by 0.8 percent compared with a year earlier, and for the first quarter by 1.6 per cent.

    March’s decline was driven largely by the watches, jewelry and valuable gifts sector, which fell by 2.6 percent, and apparel, down by 2.3 percent. Sales of electronic goods fell by 15.6 per cent, of optical shops by 5.7 per cent and of books and stationery by 2.5 percent.

    Conversely, sales by supermarkets increased 3.3 percent, of medicines and cosmetics by 2.5 percent, in department stores by 5 percent, and of food, liquor and tobacco by 3.6 per cent.

    Footwear and accessories sales rose by 7.1 percent, furniture by 4.3 percent and Chinese drugs and herbs by 1 percent.

    A government spokesman said the decline in Hong Kong retail sales in March “reflected the cautious consumption sentiment amid various external uncertainties”.

    He said that looking forward, retail sales business will likely continue to be affected by various external uncertainties in the near term, but the largely stable labor market and the sustained growth in inbound tourism should provide some support.

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