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Tag: Singapore

  • Christmas is over, but not the shopping

    Christmas is over, but not the shopping

    The shopping frenzy continues after Christmas as Orchard Road and neighbourhood malls lay on the post-Christmas sales to reel in the crowds.

    Mall tunes have been switched as well, as many people head out to shop for the Chinese New Year, on Jan 28 next year, or to stock up for the new school year.

    Ms Donna Tan, 33 , an administrative executive who was at the Nex shopping mall in Serangoon, said she was taking advantage of the current sales to get both Chinese New Year clothes and school shoes for her daughters, aged 10 and 14.

    She said: “There isn’t much time left for Chinese New Year shopping actually. The sales are also good now, so we took today and yesterday off to shop.”

    In total, she spent about $300 at Nex, Changi City Point and Tampines Mall over the past two days.

    Student Salwa Mayra, 19, waited for the post-Christmas sales to score better deals.

    Ms Salwa, who went shopping in Orchard Road and at Nex, said she bought clothes at Zara at half the usual price. Others, such as Ms Miki Chua, 40, a teacher, also decided to wait until after Christmas to beat the crowds.

    “I looked around during the Christmas period but it was too crowded, so I decided to come back now,” said Ms Chua, who had bags from Forever 21 and Etude House.

    Stores such as H&M and Robinsons continued to offer discounts of up to 70 per cent.

    Several malls and department stores reported healthy post-Christmas crowds and sales.

    A Tangs spokesman said the sales figures for Monday, the day after Christmas, were “quite encouraging”, without giving details. The sale at Tangs goes on till Jan 2.

    A spokesman for the orchardgateway shopping mall also said that the crowds on Monday were on the “positive side”.

    Takashimaya Singapore said that while there was just a 5 per cent increase in crowd figures on Boxing Day this year compared with last year, Takashimaya Department Store achieved a “double-digit increase in sales” over last year’s figures.

    Ms Stephanie Ho, general manager at Frasers Centrepoint Malls, said overall traffic at the company’s malls, which include Causeway Point and Waterway Point, was boosted by up to 20 per cent.

    “This may be attributed to promotions, including post-Christmas and back-to-school sales, over the long festive weekend,” she said.

    Despite healthy crowds, a survey conducted by e-commerce solutions company SAP Hybris that was released earlier this month found that only 39 per cent of shoppers still enjoy browsing in purely brick- and-mortar stores.

    More popular were stores with both a physical and digital presence, which 68 per cent of those surveyed cited as their top shopping option. Consumers were also less interested in more new-age services such as mobile payments through a digital wallet.

    Singapore Polytechnic senior retail lecturer Sarah Lim said that while an increase in transactions or crowds may not translate into an increase in sales due to marked- down prices, clearing stock is also important.

    “They have to make room for new stock, especially because Chinese New Year is coming soon. Also, crowds have the tendency to attract more crowds, who may end up buying,” she said.

  • 9 upcoming retail mall projects in Singapore

    9 upcoming retail mall projects in Singapore

    According to a Savills report, there are at least nine major mall projects in the pipeline from Q4 2016 to 2020, totalling around 6.2 million sq ft of retail supply.

    The upcoming retail supply for 2016 is mainly from the new mixed-use developments in the Central planning region, mainly from two new integrated projects: Downtown Gallery and Tanjong Pagar Centre.

    From 2017 to 2020, approximately 6.2 million sq ft of new retail space is expected to enter the physical stock. Major developments consist of the new retail mall at Singapore Post Centre and The Heart at Marina One.

    Hillion Mall in the Bukit Panjang planning area is the only significant development in 2017 that is not located within the Central planning region.

    9 upcoming mall projects in Singapore

    1. Downtown Gallery
    Location: Shenton Way
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 160,000
    Estimated completion: 2016

    2. Singapore Post Centre AEI
    Location: Eunos Road 8
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 269,100
    Estimated completion: 2017

    3. Hillion Mall
    Location; Jelebu Road
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 152,500
    Estimated completion: 2017

    4. Marina One (The Heart)
    Location: Marina Way/Straits View
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 140,000
    Estimated completion: 2017

    5. Paya Lear Quarter
    Location: Paya Lear Road/Sims Avenue
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 340,000
    Estimated completion: 2018

    6. Northpoint City
    Location: Yishun Central 1
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 315,250
    Estimated completion: 2018

    7. TripleOne Somerset Podium AEI
    Location: Somerset Road
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 88,500
    Estimated completion: 2018/9

    8. Jewel Changi Airport
    Location: Airport Boulevard
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 576,000
    Estimated completion: 2019

    9. Funan
    Location: North Bridge Road
    Estimated NLA (sq ft): 324,000
    Estimated completion: 2019

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  • Pop-up barber shop offers free shaves at Changi

    Pop-up barber shop offers free shaves at Changi

    Philips and L’Oréal Paris Men Expert have joined forces to launch a pop-up barber shop at Singapore Changi Airport.

    The Male Grooming Club initiative, in partnership with Changi Airport Group, The Shilla Duty Free and Sprint-Cass, is said to be the first-of-its-kind in an airport. The barber shop, open from 13 December to 24 January, offers male passengers in Terminal 3 a range of grooming services, products and promotions.

    Professional barbers use Philips’ range of premium shavers for a complimentary hot towel shave alongside head and face massages, finishing with the L’Oréal Paris Men Expert range to pamper skin. Individual consultations with a grooming adviser are also available to select the best shaver and skincare products suited to customers’ needs.

    The Male Grooming Club showcases Philips’ most advanced shavers featuring proprietary ContourDetect technology designed to maximise comfort and minimise cuts and irritation. Other male grooming tools available at the pop-up store include Philips hair clippers, beard trimmers and body groomers.

    Men in focus

    While more than 50% of travellers are male, they represent less than 10% of the total spend in airport cosmetic stores. Changi Airport said there is a huge opportunity in the travel retail space to target men specifically when it comes to their grooming needs.

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    Primed and ready to fly.

    The pop-up offers exclusive promotions such as S$50 (US$35) off selected Philips Shavers with any purchase of a L’Oréal Paris Men Expert gift set. Complimentary gifting services are also available along with a limited-edition gift bag with any purchase of a Philips male grooming tool or L’Oréal Paris Men Expert travel retail exclusive sets.

    Philips and L’Oréal Paris Men Expert product ranges are available at Sprint-Cass and The Shilla Duty Free. Complimentary male grooming services are available from 6am to 10am and 7pm to 11pm daily; while the Male Grooming Club will operate from 6am to 1am daily.

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  • “Flying eye hospital” Orbis makes stop in Singapore

    “Flying eye hospital” Orbis makes stop in Singapore

    A plane arrived this week at Paya Lebar Airbase. But it is no ordinary aircraft. The Orbis plane, also known as the world’s only “flying eye hospital”, made its stop in Singapore this week to raise awareness about blindness.

    Orbis, an international non-profit organisation, is primarily a teaching hospital which trains medical professionals from developing nations in eye care. It has so far travelled to 92 countries, providing hands-on training to medical professionals and better access to quality eye care, among other areas.

    It also conducts operations for patients on board the aircraft while medical professionals watch and learn in an adjacent classroom through a live feed.

    Orbis’ visit to Singapore marks the first time that its latest plane model- a third generation MD-10 plane- has landed in the Republic after hundreds of aircraft experts retrofitted it. The whole effort took six years.

    The aircraft, which was open to the media on Friday, boasts a 46-seat classroom, an operating room as well as a patient care and laser treatment room, among other features.

    Apart from having a longer flight range of 6,000 nautical miles which will enable it to fly longer distances, the plane’s live broadcast capabilities will also better train doctors and nurses with live footage in 3D.

    According to the World Health Organisation, 285 million people in the word are visually impaired. Yet, about 80 per cent of these cases are preventable.

    Orbis has, in the last five years, trained over 115,000 doctors and other medical professionals. Over 340,000 eye surgeries have been performed for patients during that same period.

    “The Flying Eye Hospital plays a vital role in Orbis’ mission to bring the world together to fight blindness,” said Mr Paul Forrest, Chief Development Officer of Orbis International.

    “Our launch of this new third-generation Flying Eye Hospital not only marks a new chapter in our shared sight-saving journey, but also brings us a significant step closer to our dream of eliminating avoidable blindness forever.”

    Apart from helping to retrofit the plane, FedEx also announced in June this year that it was renewing its five-year US$5.375 million (S$7.66 million) commitment to Orbis. That includes providing aircraft services and sponsoring fellowships for ophthalmologists to study in leading global eye institutes.

  • Opening of Singapore first Apple Store gets pushed back indefinitely

    Opening of Singapore first Apple Store gets pushed back indefinitely

    Back in July, Singaporeans were thrilled by the news that our very first Apple retail store was set to open in November at Orchard Road’s Knightsbridge Mall.

    With Apple products only available to Singapore dwellers via authorised resellers (Nübox , EpiCenter) and Apple’s online store, the opening comes as a very welcomed surprise to both Apple fans and tech enthusiasts alike.

    The facade of the store, albeit still very much under renovation, was also observed by local Apple blog My Apple Singapore to potentially have the trademark front-facing glass panels that international Apple retail stores possess.

    What was also exciting, especially to us, were the possibilities of how an Apple retail store in Singapore would turn out, given that the company is known for designing its stores so as to “become one with the community [it is in]”.

    And it’s not just in the superficial – Apple stores in Japan are also known to participate in the Japanese New Year’s Fukubukuro (“lucky bag”) tradition, giving out bags containing random Apple products at highly discounted prices.

    At that point of time, we were a mere few months away from the unveiling of a shiny new store which could, pardon the reference, make shopping in Singapore great again, but the projected date (and month) has already come and passed…and we’re still far from picking out Apple products over the counters.

    From 31 Oct, To 30 Jan, To…

    Last month, The Straits Times came bearing the bad news that the store “will likely not open in time for Christmas this year”.

    The information board at the location showed an updated expected completion of Jan 30, 2017, and comes as a 3-month delay from the previously stated Oct 31, 2016.

    The store was also observed to be “still covered by white construction hoarding, with construction canvas draped over the exterior’s glass panels” – not exactly the most promising sign.

    Photo of the store’s information board in Nov 

    But that’s not the end of it.

    According to a report last week, the date has now been covered up, making the date of completion pretty much indefinite.

    After a check with workers and security guards at the site, the report found that the delays were “unavoidable after the site was issued with a three-week stop-work order in late October”.

    This was confirmed by the Ministry of Manpower (MOM), which revealed that the order was meted out on Oct 24 due to “unsafe conditions relating to work at height, traffic management, scaffolding, electrical installation and lifting operations that were observed during an inspection at the worksite”.

    Was The First Predicted Date Of Completion Too Optimistic?

    Given that a 3-week delay would’ve definitely caused a break in construction, the pushing back of the date of completion not once, but twice, might suggest that the first predicted date of completion (Oct 31) might have been a stretch in the first place.

    But then again, according to industry observers who has been interviewed, delays “are not uncommon [given] Apple’s emphasis on customer experience in its flagship stores”.

    Regardless, We do hope that the site is now much safer for the workers (given that this year has seen a rise in workplace deaths, and is an issue we shouldn’t ignore anymore), and that we also get an update soon.

    And this time, a more accurate one.

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  • StarHub launches services over APG submarine cable

    StarHub launches services over APG submarine cable

    Singapore operator StarHub has announced the launch of services over the new Asia-Pacific Gateway (APG) submarine cable network, which connects nine countries in the region.

    The APG is a 10,900 kilometre cable network system with capacity exceeding 54Tbps, the highest of any similar network in Asia.

    It has connection points in Mainland China, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Taiwan, Thailand and Vietnam.

    There are three landing points in China – Shanhgai Nanhui, Chongming and Hong Kong – operated by major Chinese providers.

    “Singapore is China’s largest foreign investor. To serve Singapore enterprises expanding to China, we are pleased to provide them with a new international connectivity on APG, catering for the growing economic activities between China and Southeast Asia,” Benjamin Tan, vice president of international business at StarHub, said in a media release.

    StarHub has partnered with operators in each country to provide services for its enterprise customers requiring international connectivity to any of these overseas markets.

    APG also enhances StarHub’s international connectivity by providing traffic routing diversity to submarine cable systems such as Asia-Pacific Cable Network 2 (APCN2), Asia Submarine-cable Express (ASE) and Asia-America Gateway (AAG).

    This will provide Singapore based enterprises more options to connect to other parts of Asia Pacific as well as minimise impact of any service disruption resulting from submarine cable damage, which can be caused by accidents or natural disasters.

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  • Tencent Singapore office targets tourists

    Tencent Singapore office targets tourists

    Chinese-based online social media platform parent Tencent has opened a Singapore office to help drive Asian brands improve their reach to Chinese consumers.

    Tencent, which owns the WeChat messaging and browsing platform, has created an International Business Group charged with raising awareness of the opportunities offered by WeChat, especially targeting people who live outside China.

    While WeChat is as mainstream in the mainland as facebook is outside China, its takeup across the rest of Asia is limited.  The new Tencent Singapore team believes there are huge opportunities marketing to Chinese when they are travelling outside their home country.

    A growing number of luxury brands are establishing a presence on Wechat – Gucci even sells handbags worth several thousand US dollars on the platform, and BMW reaches out to prospective customers. Other consumer retailers like Hong Kong’s Sa Sa have developed extensive interactive eCommerce platforms which work across channel and drive customers in-store.

    Benny Ho, senior director of business development at Tencent, told The Drum that inbound marketing is a big opportunity in Singapore, especially.

    “These tourists are setting their own itinerary and they know precisely what store to buy from and in what colour before they arrive; they come to buy, not to shop. This means you need to build all the brand consideration and purchase intent way before they arrive and that is part of the core service we are trying to offer,” he said.

    WeChat alone has just over 800 million monthly active users.

    “That’s a huge number,” said Ho. “Every market we go to, we educate the market and tell them the numbers and it’s mind blowing. Our role is to make something that big [more] understandable.”

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  • Salvatore Ferragamo changes the game in Asia

    Salvatore Ferragamo changes the game in Asia

    Italian fashion label Salvatore Ferragamo has taken over four JVs created in partnership with Trinity (Fung Group), which distributes the brand in South Korea and Southeast Asia.

    Ferragamo says it has bought the companies’ 20 per cent share, still owned by Trinity through Trinity Luxury Brands Holdings and Ferrinch. The value of the transaction has not been disclosed.

    Impacting Ferragamo Korea, Ferragamo (Malaysia), Ferragamo (Singapore) and Ferragamo (Thailand), the takeover follows an agreement signed in 2012. This included a purchasing option allowing for Salvatore Ferragamo to take full control of the JV companies.

    At the time, Ferragamo had already increased its stake in the four companies to 80 per cent.

    In the past few years, the Asia-Pacific region has become Salvatore Ferragamo’s main market, accounting for 35.5 per cent of its global revenue. At the end of September, the label’s sales in the region amounted to €360 million (US$375 million), equivalent to a 0.3 per cent decrease compared to the first nine months of the previous fiscal year.

    The label has 70 monobrand stores in the region.

  • Singapore Cruise Centre concession goes to DFS Group

    Singapore Cruise Centre concession goes to DFS Group

    Luxury travel retailer DFS Group has been awarded the master duty-free and general merchandise concession at Singapore Cruise Centre (SCC).

    Winning the public tender process announced in June, DFS has a five-year contract covering SCC’s HarbourFront and Tanah Merah ferry terminals, with a two-year extension option.

    It is the first time SCC has awarded a master duty-free concession, consolidating several contracts including liquor and tobacco, perfumes and cosmetics, fashion, travel accessories and confectionery into a single contract.

    DFS will start trading on April 1, being allocated commercial space spanning 6000 sqft (557 sqm) across seven outlets at the terminals. The deal involves a reconfiguration of the main retail space at the arrival and departure areas of both terminals.

    Singapore Cruise Centre CEO Christina Siaw says the tender process attracted participation from the world’s leading international duty-free concession companies. “We were highly impressed with the passion, innovation and attention to detail demonstrated by participants in the tender proposal and interview stages.”

    She says passengers at the SCC terminals will soon have access to more retail space with a new store concept as well as new brands, marketing activities and services.

    DFS will offer products from more than 150 brands and introduce food and whisky-tasting stations as well as eCommerce, collection and home-delivery platforms.

    Outlets will undergo a phased renovation, introducing a revamped design inspired by the traditional seafront buildings nestled along Singapore’s coastline.

    More than 6.3 million ferry passengers and 560,000 cruise passengers pass through SCC’s terminals annually. DFS has had a presence at SCC for two decades.

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  • Philips and L’Oreal Paris offer male passengers a close shave at Changi

    Philips and L’Oreal Paris offer male passengers a close shave at Changi

    Philips and L’Oréal Paris Men Expert have joined forces to launch a pop-up barber shop at Singapore Changi Airport. The Male Grooming Club initiative is a partnership with Changi Airport Group, The Shilla Duty Free and Sprint-Cass. The barber shop, open from 13 December to 24 January, offers male passengers in Terminal 3 a range of grooming services, products and promotions.

    Professional barbers use Philips’ range of shavers for a complimentary hot towel shave alongside head and face massages, finishing with treatment from the L’Oréal Paris Men Expert range. Individual consultations with a grooming adviser are also available.

    The Male Grooming Club showcases Philips’ most advanced shavers featuring its ContourDetect technology. Other male grooming tools available at the pop-up store include Philips hair clippers, beard trimmers and body groomers.

    L’Oréal Paris Men Expert offers a wide range of skincare products tailored to cover all major men skin concerns, such as anti-ageing and hydration.

    While more than 50% of travellers are male, they represent less than 10% of the total spend in airport cosmetics stores, noted the partners. Changi Airport said there is a huge opportunity in the travel retail space to target men and their grooming needs.

    The pop-up offers exclusive promotions such as S$50 (US$35) off selected Philips Shavers with any purchase of a L’Oréal Paris Men Expert gift set. Complimentary gifting services are also available along with a limited-edition gift bag with any purchase of a Philips male grooming tool or L’Oréal Paris Men Expert travel retail exclusive sets.

    Changi Airport Group Senior Vice President of Airside Concessions Division Teo Chew Hoon said: “We are excited to partner Philips and L’Oréal Paris Men Expert to introduce this unique pop-up concept at Changi Airport. With these complimentary grooming services, we hope to pamper our male travellers, making their Changi Experience a more memorable one this festive season.”

    Royal Philips Global Business Development Manager Travel Retail Steven van Dortmond commented: “Travelling long distances can be a tiring affair and Philips is pleased to be able to offer men a grooming experience that will refresh and recharge them for the journey ahead. With Philips’ premium male grooming range, travellers will arrive at their destinations well-groomed and ready to go.”

    L’Oréal Consumer Products Division Travel Retail APAC General Manager Barbara Bressand-Sussfeld noted: “We want to offer to male travellers and consumers a dedicated grooming environment by bringing together two of the number one worldwide brands – our skin care brand Men Expert and Philips electric shavers. All male travellers at Changi Airport will be able to enjoy a unique grooming experience at Terminal 3 and we look forward to welcoming them to the Male Grooming Club.”

    The Shilla Duty Free Head of Global Merchandise Division Raelene Johnson said: “As a leading travel retail cosmetics & perfumes operator, we are always looking to elevate travellers’ shopping experience. We are excited to work with our brand partner L’Oréal Paris Men Expert, and with Philips and Sprint-Cass to create an immersive and unique experience for travellers.

    “We hope that the experiential concept of the Male Grooming Club will provide male travellers with access to a wide range of male grooming services and products, bringing greater value to our customers.”

    Philips and L’Oréal Paris Men Expert product ranges are available at Sprint-Cass and The Shilla Duty Free. Complimentary male grooming services are available from 6am to 10am and 7pm to 11pm daily; while the Male Grooming Club runs from 6am to 1am daily.

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  • Five must-visit malls in Singapore, the shopper’s paradise

    Five must-visit malls in Singapore, the shopper’s paradise

    There is no doubt that Singapore is a paradise for shopaholics and foodies. And, it doesn’t come as a surprise if the island nation has some of the finest malls. Recently, Forbes rated the best five malls in Singapore based on the shopping experience and food offerings.

    At number five is Paragon Shopping Mall on Orchard Road. This 20-storey shopping center with more than 200 shops is definitely an up-market shoppers’ paradise. With six levels of designer fashion and luxury boutiques, sports and lifestyle shops, restaurants and cafes, Paragon is a one-stop destination for luxury needs.

    After Paragon, the obvious next choice is ION Orchard, located in Singapore’s prominent shopping boulevard, Orchard Road. It offers a dazzling view at night and a unique shopping experience with over 300 retail, F&B and entertainment stores, which will include six of the world’s top luxury brands building their signature flagships stores.

    Next on the line is the most famous The Shoppes at the Marina Bay Sands resort. The Shoppes is a one-of-its-kind mall with a casino, indoor skating rink, rooftop access that gives a breathtaking skyline view of the Bay Sans, and a canal that runs through the mall. It also boasts some of the world’s most renowned brands like Ralph Lauren, Hermès, Chanel and Cartier, but, the highlight is the Louis Vuitton island concept store.

    Then comes Singapore’s largest shopping mall, VivoCity, located near the coastline of Keppel Harbour and Sentosa Island. Operated throughout cable car, its occupiers include American Eagle, Forever 21, H&M, Gap, MUJI, and Uniqlo.

    And finally, at the number spot is the country’s tallest vertical mall, Orchard Central, right in the center of Orchard road. The food court is nothing short of a gastronomical delight with alfresco style dining options at its rooftop or international food ranging from Japanese, Korean, Chinese to Western at the F&B themed floors, it will satisfy every palette.

    Other prominent shopping destinations include Dempsey Road, Holland Road Shopping Centre, Little India, Tiong Bahru and Haji Lane. A true shopper’s paradise with a slew of mall spread across the country, Singapore definitely beats its neighbours in terms of sheer convenience and familiarity.

  • Hopes in the shoulder of JuanFu Hong Kong

    Hopes in the shoulder of JuanFu Hong Kong

    China-based crawfish specialty brand JuanFu has opened its first restaurant in Hong Kong with hopes this will help it launch worldwide.

    Founded in Shanghai last year, the brand already has 11 outlets spanning different provinces and cities in China. Its Hong Kong outlet in Sheung Wan, Buddies Crawfish, imports crawfish directly from breeding bases in Hunan, Jiangsu and Greece.

    Buddies Crawfish Hong Kong chairman Wu Hsiao says he hopes to promote the brand globally and expand to overseas markets through the opening of the Hong Kong store.

    “Hong Kong is an international city with a good mix of people from different cultures and backgrounds all over the world. The large number of mainland and international visitors offers a good clientele, which also makes Hong Kong the best place for us to promote our brand globally.”

    He believes that a Hong Kong base will help the brand easily enter the Chinese markets in Singapore, Taiwan, Australia and the US.

    “At the moment there are limited supplies of crawfish in the Hong Kong market, so we hope to fill this gap by offering stable supplies of crawfish to the market in different ways. Further down the track we also plan to open another crawfish-themed restaurant and a crawfish fast-food store in Hong Kong, as well as distribute fresh and chilled crawfish to restaurants and supermarkets.”

    Hong Kong’s F&B scene is thriving, says Invest Hong Kong associate director-general of investment promotion Dr Jimmy Chiang. “I am happy JuanFu chose Hong Kong to set up its first restaurant outside the mainland. I believe the brand will make use of the city’s business advantages to expand overseas.”

    Headquartered in Beijing, JuanFu is owned by Shanghai Wan Li Network and Technology, which specialises in developing its own brands for agriculture products.

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  • Asian Christmas gift-giving trends revealed

    Asian Christmas gift-giving trends revealed

    When it comes to Asian Christmas gift-giving, Koreans are the most generous, according to a Kadence Singapore survey.

    The company spoke to a cross-section of shoppers in Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Malaysia and Singapore to understand more about their Christmas buying habits.

    Koreans emerged as the most generous, with 88 per cent saying they will give someone a present this year. Of these, 63 per cent are buying a gift for their partner, with 33 per cent buying for a parent.

    kadence-christmas-infographic

    In contrast, Japan is far more conservative, with 75 per cent shopping for Christmas. Of these, 13 per cent are considering buying a present for their parents.

    People in a relationship are far more likely to receive a gift this year, the survey shows. Of the people surveyed, 53 per cent will buy a gift for their partner. This is followed by presents for a parent or another family member (both 25 per cent). However, 21 per cent of the people surveyed do not intend to buy any presents this Christmas.

    A surprising find is that men (80 per cent) are more likely to buy a Christmas gift than women (77 per cent), a trend across all markets. Hong Kong men lead the field at 83 per cent, versus 70 per cent women.

    Men are more focussed on their partner, with 60 per cent buying a gift for their nearest and dearest, while only 46 per cent of women are doing the same. However, women are more willing to share the Christmas spirit, with 24 per cent likely to buy presents for friends and 18 per cent for siblings (for men the figures are 15 and 8 per cent respectively).

    In general, survey respondents have three extended family members in mind when Christmas shopping, beyond parents, siblings and partners. They also have up to five key friends and colleagues they will buy for. Women are likely to buy more presents for their friends and colleagues, with 33 per cent looking to buy five or more presents for colleagues versus about 12 per cent for men.

    When it comes to expenditure, partners are the main consideration. In Singapore, 73 per cent of respondents will spend SG$100 (US$70) or more on their partner. In contrast, 71 per cent will spend less than SG$100 on friends while 69 per cent will spend less than SG$50 on colleagues.

    In Singapore, 48 per cent of men interviewed say they will spend more than SG$200, compared to 28 per cent of women, who are more likely to spread their spending on friends, colleagues and other family members.

  • Mega-Clouds Drive Shift to Mega-Data Centers in Singapore

    Mega-Clouds Drive Shift to Mega-Data Centers in Singapore

    While Singapore has for years been the default data center location for US and European companies wanting to serve clients in Asia, the rise of the mega-clouds is changing market dynamics there as it has done in other major data center markets around the world.

    Companies like Microsoft and Google have built their own data centers in Singapore and leased capacity from data center providers there. Social networks LinkedIn (now owned by Microsoft) and Facebook occupy leased data center space on the island. There’s also demand from Asian mega-clouds, such as Alibaba.

    As they do elsewhere around the world – in places like Northern Virginia, Dallas, Chicago, and Dublin – these companies are generally after big multi-megawatt data center leases, driving more demand for wholesale data center services in Singapore than there has been historically.

    That’s according to recent data on the Singapore data center market from Structure Research, which says the market profile has shifted to “one that is increasingly geared to wholesale deployments.” Most of the 150 or so megawatts of new data center capacity that would be coming online in 2016 and 2017 was being built for wholesale deals, Jabez Tan, research director at Structure, told us in an interview.

    As Tan notes in an article for Data Center Knowledge that also ran this week, the trend toward wholesale can be observed in all major Asia-Pacific markets.

    The Singapore data center market has been growing steadily over the last several years, but the analysts’ data shows its next phase of growth is being driven primarily by wholesale data center demand from cloud giants, pushing providers to build data centers at massive scale. That 150-plus megawatts would be delivered across only eight data centers.

    Structure expects the Singapore market to generate $811 million in revenue in 2016 and grow 9 percent in 2017. The research firm projects the market will reach $1.6 billion in size by 2020, growing at a compound annual rate of 9 percent.

    In addition to being one of Asia’s primary commercial and financial hubs, Singapore is a hub for international connectivity, with landing stations for submarine cables linking it to major Asia-Pacific markets in India, China, Japan, and Australia, as well as the numerous emerging markets in the region, such as Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and Singapore’s next-door neighbor Malaysia. In short, if you want network access to virtually all Asia-Pacific markets from one place, that place is Singapore. The city-state’s robust infrastructure, political stability, and a business-friendly government also help.

    There are 45 data center providers in Singapore as of 2016, with 53 unique operational data centers, according to Structure. Together, their critical power capacity is 240MW. The two top providers in the market are local telco Singtel and the Redwood City, California-based colocation giant Equinix. The two companies have a combined share of 55 percent in the Singapore data center market. Other top providers are Digital Realty Trust, Keppel Data Centers, Global Switch, and NTT Communications.

    Not all demand for data center capacity in Singapore is coming from cloud giants of course. There are plenty of examples of smaller companies, such as system integrators and other IT service providers from China and elsewhere overseas, taking data center space in Singapore to serve clients throughout AsiaPacific.

    Some of the recent examples include Retarus, a Munich-based messaging service provider, which announced a new data center in Singapore last month. The company lists Adidas, Bayer, Sony, and Honda as its clients. Another one is Fpweb.net, a St. Louis, Missouri-based managed cloud and security services firm, which announced a data center in Singapore earlier this month, promising it would reduce latency for its clients in Southeast Asia.

    While data center providers building in Singapore are mostly after the lucrative multi-megawatt cloud deals, they generally don’t pigeonhole themselves into being strictly wholesale or strictly retail providers. A company may prefer wholesale deals but it will sign retail colocation deals as well, Tan said. It goes the other way too. Equinix, for example, a company that specializes in retail colocation inside its network-rich facilities, has done some wholesale deals in Singapore, he said. Equinix usually makes the exception if a major strategic customer wants a wholesale deployment.

    Tan was not confident there would be enough demand for all the new wholesale capacity coming online in the 2016-2017 timeframe. Lots of empty facilities and only so many deals to go around usually means pricing for wholesale data center space will come down. “It’s pretty aggressive in terms of chasing after deals in Singapore,” he said.

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  • Nike Singapore turns back on small outlets

    Nike Singapore turns back on small outlets

    Sports brand Nike Singapore will stop supplying smaller retailers from next month.

    This is a huge blow for mom-and-pop stores in Peninsula Plaza and Queensway Shopping Centre, which rely on top-selling brands to attract customers, as reported.

    “Its move would force many of us out of business soon,” says Salam & Sons manager Gurbachan Singh, who has run the business for more than 30 years.

    “We did business with Nike for more than 20 years. We followed their rules, never defaulted on payments nor brought in fake or parallel imports. Many of us don’t understand why they are doing this to us,” he says.

    Out of the US, Nike tops the 10 most-valuable apparel brands segment in market research company Millward Brown’s 2016 Brandz Top 100 Most-Valuable Global Brands report.