Traditional Grocery Retailers in Singapore

PROSPECTS

Wet markets increasingly unappealing in Singapore’s modern retailing landscape

With the majority of Singapore’s grocery retailing landscape now penetrated by modern grocery formats, traditional grocery retailers are struggling to survive, with sales declining each year. In comparison to the wide product ranges, loyalty incentives and convenience factors present in the air-conditioned setting of supermarkets, traditional grocery retailers like wet markets pale into insignificance with their messy and unstructured systems.

Small provision shops and minimarts continue facing challenges

Independent minimarts and small provision shops are struggling to retain their place in Singapore’s shopping environment, despite the improving economic situation in 2018. Key reasons for this include the rising middle-income consumer segment, rapid modernisation of retail spaces, the push for more progress and urbanisation, as well as consumers’ increasingly high standards.

Higher prices limiting capacity to compete

Moreover, since these minimarts are independent and not chained, they do not reap the benefits of economies of scale, resulting in higher price points compared to supermarkets. Coupled with their limited range of products, which do not include all of the wet and dry items desired, there is no incentive for consumers to shop in such stores anymore.

COMPETITIVE LANDSCAPE

Doubts over whether Alibaba’s Ling Shou Tong is viable for mom-and-pop-stores

In an attempt to push the use of modern analytics to automate operations that are otherwise heavily reliant on manual work, Alibaba recently rolled out its Ling Shou Tong retail management strategy. The company aims to connect mom-and-pop-stores to and help them leverage Alibaba’s network of logistics, data analytics, and supply chain efficiencies.

BreadTalk continues to cruise above other traditional grocery retailers

In 2018, BreadTalk continued to lead traditional grocery retailer sales (including food, drink and tobacco specialists). BreadTalk stands firm amid competition from artisan bakeries due to its distinct offering of local flavours and constant churning of new designs, providing customers a new experience each time.

Innovation key to success

A crucial factor contributing to the success of BreadTalk is the fact that founder George Quek insists on sticking to the roots of the business, while simultaneously investing in product innovation to keep up with the times. With such a strong vision, BreadTalk is predicted to remain the leading traditional grocery retailer for the foreseeable future, with innovations expected to keep sales ticking at a decent growth rate.

Files are delivered directly into your account within a few minutes of purchase.