Inaugural Singapore Retail Festival from Sept 26 to Oct 12 aims to boost local shopping scene
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The festival will focus on experiential retail cencepts, meaningful consumer engagements, and innovation.
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SINGAPORE - The inaugural Singapore Retail Festival (SRF) will be held in September and October, coinciding with the Formula One Singapore Grand Prix, to showcase the Republic as a shopping destination to the world.
Festivalgoers can look forward to experiential retail concepts from interactive in-store activations to limited-time concepts such as pop-ups, workshops, masterclasses, and sensory or personalisation events.
The festival, which will take place annually, will be held across the island, from Sept 26 to Oct 12, said the Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) in a statement on Aug 5.
As the F1 night race in 2025 will be held from Oct 3 to 5, SRA hopes the festival will draw the larger number of international visitors who come for the race.
Mr Stephen Sing, executive director of SRA, said the association is organising the festival to provide a much-needed concerted push and collective marketing to amplify visibility and footfall across Singapore’s shopping scene, especially for the physical stores.
SRA has secured partnerships with retailers, including department store chains BHG, Metro and OG, local traditional Chinese medicine maker Eu Yan Sang, Australian retail chain Harvey Norman, Pet Lovers Centre, health and beauty retailer Watsons and fashion retailer PlayDress.
It noted that curated offers and experiences at the festival are key features that go beyond markdowns and discounts. Mr Sing said the festival will focus on “value beyond price and emphasising experiential retail, meaningful consumer engagements, and innovation”.
One way to measure SRF’s success is to see if the festival attracts more participation from retailers in subsequent years, said Mr Sing, adding that SRA is not able to give a projection yet on how much consumer spending the association hopes to generate with SRF.
The association invites retailers across the island to join the festival by contacting SRA to share innovative retail ideas for collaboration or register their participation with SRA directly.
News of the festival comes as a muted outlook for Singapore’s retail sales is anticipated over the coming months, said DBS Bank senior economist Chua Han Teng in response to June’s retail sales statistics released on Aug 5.
It is widely acknowledged that the retail industry has been experiencing a challenging time, clouded by economic uncertainties and shifts in consumer behaviour, said Mr Sing.
“We are appreciative of the Government’s encouragement of retailers to adapt by embracing digital transformation and leveraging technologies like artificial intelligence to enhance customer experience and optimise operations.”
