Mobile app, discount card, mascot among suggestions

ST ILLUSTRATION: MANNY FRANCISCO

Readers who wrote in had the following suggestions:

TECHNOLOGY

There should be a Great Singapore Sale (GSS) mobile app to counter the growing popularity of shopping online.

E-mail alerts can also be sent to GSS subscribers, much like retailers who send promotional alerts by e-mail outside of the GSS period.

IDENTITY AND BRANDING

Readers felt that the GSS has become unidentifiable and confusing, given the proliferation of other sales, when retailers try to clear their old stocks. They suggest having a mascot that would signify the GSS. Another way would be to have a GSS discount card. Instead of different campaigns by various malls, both in the Orchard Road area and neighbourhoods, some suggested more unified themes that could be changed annually.

DECOR AND ATMOSPHERE

There can be lighting or decorations similar to those found during Christmas and other festivals to indicate that there is something special happening. One reader said tourists who arrive during the GSS period incidentally may not realise that an annual sale is going on.

They also suggested having street food and making the event more "carnival-like" by having booths, performances and street food.

APPEAL

One reader suggested a "tourism passport" that would give bigger discounts with more attractions visited. There can also be discount coupons issued through travel agents or airline companies that would include free meals.

Malls could provide transportation for tourists from hotels, as well as shopping guides and have options for tourists to pay in their home currencies. Courier companies could also make it more convenient for tourists to ship big- ticket items home.

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A version of this article appeared in the print edition of The Straits Times on September 22, 2016, with the headline Mobile app, discount card, mascot among suggestions. Subscribe