WITH less than two weeks to the Great Singapore Sale (GSS), retailers have stolen the march on the annual shopping festival with early sales and attractive offers.
With shop signs already screaming discounts of 70 per cent, should shoppers hope for even bigger price cuts come May 29, the sale's launch date?
Probably not, said retailers and industry experts interviewed.
What shoppers can expect are more freebies, a wider range of discounted goods and more vouchers to encourage repeat spending. Harvey Norman's managing director Angelo Augustus said: 'Profit margins are so low already, it's been getting tougher.'
The consumer electronics store, which gave discounts of 20 per cent during last year's GSS, will focus on instant lucky draws and giveaways this year.
Retail sales have been falling since last October, when the global financial crisis hit and consumers zipped up their wallets.
In response, shops have been slashing prices to the point, they say, that their margins have become razor thin. This is why they will stick to the 50 to 70 per cent discounts offered last year.
'Many shops are already selling below cost... they can't afford to slash further,' said Ms Lau Chuen Wei, executive director of the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA), which organises the annual sale.
When asked whether the SRA would pull out the stops to entice shoppers this year, she said details will be revealed later.
Read the full report in Thursday's edition of The Straits Times.
