SINGAPORE - Retail outlets and food and beverage (F&B) outlets have benefited from the easing of dine-in rules.

The Straits Times visited Paragon, Ion Orchard, Jem and Westgate on Saturday (June 26) and dropped in on 11 F&B outlets and nine retail shops across the four malls.

As expected, various F&B outlets said business had improved even though they had not reached full seating capacity.

Dining in was allowed to resume on Monday, in groups of two.

Ms Beh Phei Ling, 29, manager of Rumah Sayang at Jem, said the eatery has seen a 15 per cent increase in walk-in customers since the first day of phase three (heightened alert). The Straits Times saw that it had at least 10 customers by noon, filling a third of the eatery's capacity.

The number of patrons at Rumah Sayang dropped by around 60 per cent during phase two (heightened alert).

Although relieved that business has picked up, Ms Beh said the jump remains modest and limited.

She said: "People may still be cautious and scared to visit the mall because of the number of Covid-19 cases."

Jem and Westgate were shut from May 23 for two weeks, after 10 cases were linked to them. Ion Orchard was also closed for four days from June 12, after three workers tested positive for Covid-19.

Some F&B establishments remain supportive of the cautious approach towards dine-in.

Ms Samantha Toh, 23, branch manager at Baker's Brew Cafe in Paragon, said: "It's good that we are more cautious instead of jumping back to five people (per group dining in)."

But F&B outlets are also looking forward to further easing of the dine-in rules.

Ms Beh said: "The two-person rule might not be enough from a business perspective. Families might be unwilling to dine in because they do not wish to be split up."

Ms Doreen Ong, a manager at Hawkers' Street in Ion Orchard, said the two-person rule and safe distancing measures had decreased its seating capacity from 60 to 32, and this has led to a low turnover rate for customers.

She said: "Customers can wait for 30 to 40 minutes, and some might walk away if the wait is too long."

Some F&B outlets, such as PappaRich at Westgate, have had to contend with difficult customers.

Ms Annie Soh, 64, the supervisor of PappaRich at Westgate, recalled that she had to turn away a group of three friends who attempted to dine in. Some customers would even scold the staff if they were reminded to put on their masks when not consuming food, she said.

"My heart aches and I have a huge headache whenever customers are unhelpful. I even had to print the safe management measures to remind customers of the guidelines," she said.

The increased foot traffic of diners meant more potential customers for retail outlets too.

Mr John Tanjutco, 33, department manager at Prada in Paragon, said the number of walk-in clients increased from 35 per day to around 65 to 70 per day this week, sometimes even reaching 100. "Business has improved so much. It was a ghost town before. People are in the mood to shop again," he said.

Mr Davis Chiam, 28, shop manager at Charles and Keith in Ion Orchard, said it now had around 200 customers per day on weekdays, 50 more than before dine-in was allowed.

He said: "Customers think that without dine-in, there is no point to go to the malls."

This is especially true for malls like Ion Orchard that are not located in the neighbourhood, he added.

Ms Arina Ali, 28, manager of stationery and school supplies store Smiggle at Jem, said the number of walk-in customers has picked up by almost 50 per cent since Monday. She attributed this jump to not only the spillover effect of customers dining in, but also to the imminent opening of schools after the June holidays.

As this would be the last weekend of the school holidays, many families took the opportunity to eat out.

Ms Jasmine Tan, 45, who was having lunch at Ramen Nagi in Ion Orchard with her husband and two sons, who are in secondary school, said: "I feel bad that we haven't been going anywhere with our children. I owe them a dine-in experience."

Polytechnic student Yasmin Razak, 17, was with her family at Pepper Lunch in Jem.

She said: "Due to the fasting month and the heightened alert, I was sad that I could not dine out with my parents for the past two months. I am happy that I get to dine out with my mum and dad one last time before school reopens."