Return of Great Singapore Sale up in the air, with retailers having no clue whether it will go ahead

SINGAPORE: It has been a yearly event since 1994, continuing even during the COVID-19 pandemic, but the return of the Great Singapore Sale (GSS) this year appears to be up in the air.

The annual sale extravaganza – typically held in the middle of the year, except in 2020 and 2022 when it was pushed to September – is not listed on the Singapore Retailers Association’s (SRA) calendar of events for 2023.

The trade association, which has been organising the national shopping event for the past 29 years, did not respond to questions from CNA.

CNA also contacted the Singapore Tourism Board but was directed to approach SRA for queries related to the GSS. The tourism board was a joint organiser of the GSS when it began, and has been a key supporting partner of the event over the years.

Several retailers that CNA spoke to said they have not heard any news about whether the shopping extravaganza would be held this year.

GSS OVER THE YEARS

The GSS first began as a month-long event, with hopes that it would become “as popular in the region as the London and Paris sales are in Europe and the New York sales are in the United States”, the tourism board said in a 1994 press release.

It saw a record 664,000 visitors, and the success prompted organisers to make it an annual fixture on the local retail calendar, media reports said.

At its peak in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the GSS was a hotly anticipated affair. At one point, it was extended to as long as 10 weeks between June and August. Tourists planned their trips to Singapore during the event and locals deferred their purchases to take advantage of huge savings.

A barrage of banners and posters screaming about bargains was a common sight at shopping malls along Orchard Road.

But the GSS began losing its lustre in the early 2010s amid a seismic shift in the retail landscape brought by e-commerce.

Organisers tried various ways to breathe new life into the event, such as introducing the GoSpree mobile app in 2017 with e-coupons and lucky draws. The app appears to be no longer available for download.

The following year, they tried to entice shoppers with two GST-free days – where retailers absorbed the Goods and Services Tax, which was 7 per cent then. Then in 2019, GSS underwent a revamp where its duration was cut by half and expanded to include fashion shows and film screenings.

During the pandemic years, GSS transformed into a virtual event with livestreaming and virtual showrooms, and a partnership with online shopping platform Lazada.

Last year’s edition was a hybrid event with deals available both online and offline. Held from September to October, it was timed to coincide with the return of the Formula 1 Singapore Grand Prix after the race’s two-year hiatus.

"SALE FATIGUE"

But these efforts have yielded little success, especially as online shopping grew in popularity. 

The frequency of discounts and promotions on online platforms – as often as once a month – has also watered down the uniqueness of a sale event and may have even induced “sale fatigue” among customers, several retailers said.

“In the past when there were fewer sales, GSS can make an impact because it was something that people can look forward to,” said Ms Shareen Wong, founder of Embrace Jewellery.

“It was also a concerted effort with many retailers coming together to offer a discount, and that obviously drives more traffic to Orchard Road,” she added. “But it’s now less and less so.”

Embrace Jewellery and other retailers that CNA spoke to said they have not participated in the GSS in recent years. They have gone ahead with their own promotions, both online and offline, instead.

Footwear brand Melissa, for example, had its usual mid-year sale last month.

“Our mid-year sale typically coincides with the GSS period but with or without GSS, we went ahead with ours in June,” said Mr Terence Yow, the managing director of Enviably Me which is the official distributor of the Melissa brand in Singapore.

Adding that he has not heard anything about the GSS this year, Mr Yow told CNA: “We find it a bit odd because it is a long-established tradition, and we are wondering when it is. But are we losing sleep over it? Not really.”

Home-grown department store OG also had its own mid-year sale featuring storewide gift-with-purchase and other promotions last month, as well as a members-only private sale at its People’s Park store.

OG said it has been “aligning” its sale events, both online and offline, with some of the popular monthly online sales. Nonetheless, a nationwide event such as the GSS is “still impactful and brings awareness to tourists”, it told CNA.

“The SRA has yet to announce official plans for GSS for this year. We're excited to see what SRA has in store for the official GSS event and look forward to joining,” said a spokesperson.

Mr Yow reckoned that the GSS still has a role to play in the local retail calendar but to revive Singapore’s status as a shopping paradise will require “something much bigger and not just about discounts”.

“It can be a big shopping and wine-and-dine festival with some experiential activities and concerts,” he said. “Don’t think of it as a shopping-only or retail-only event; you can bring in different types of F&B and services too.”

The initiative of Orchard Road’s pedestrian night, or closing part of the prime shopping belt to motorists once in a while, could also be revived, said Mr Yow, noting that retailers saw a “good bump up in sales and traffic” when that took place.

Describing Orchard Road as “a pale shadow of itself”, the business owner added: “I think what we need to think about is much more than GSS – how can we revive shopping in Singapore and starting from Orchard Road. 

“The bigger question is whether we can reinvent and recreate Singapore’s shopping and dining environment – to make it a lot more experiential, a lot more attractive, not just to tourists but also to the locals,” he said. 

“For that, maybe we need something way bigger and more relevant than GSS.”

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