Foreign retailers struggle to shape up to avoid shipping out of Singapore

Foreign brands need to go sub-urban.

Singapore’s tough retail landscape means that retailers need to either shape up or be forced to ship out of the prosperous city-state, market-watchers warn.

For instance, a report by Arcadis said that although foreign brands continue to like Singapore, the market is constrained by being a small island nation and the significant volume of international brands has largely saturated the market.

“A number of foreign retailers with a rigid approach to retail and unwillingness to adapt to local conditions are struggling to move to profitability, and several have exited,” the report said.

Meanwhile, Colliers International noted that exacting retail trading conditions mean that the sector continues to experience attrition.

Among the high-profile brands which left the market in recent months is Goods of Desire, which closed its Clarke Quay shop in April.

Certain Orchard Road malls, such as the one-year-old orchardgateway and the recently refurbished Shaw Centre, have been beset with poor shopper traffic and pedestrian footfalls.

“Adding salt to the wound of the battered retail property market is the continued addition of new supply that serves to intensify competition for tenants and weighs down rents,” Colliers said.