Consumer culture

From DIY squishies to clickers, customisable trinkets take over Singapore’s retail scene

Charms, squishies and other trinkets are popular as tiny luxuries especially during financial uncertainty.

Seoul’s Namdaemun scarf seller, famous for ‘don’t buy’ pitch, launches online store

The vendor shot to fame in late October after clips of his deadpan, sassy banter went viral on social media, racking up between one million and five million views per video.

China’s factory-gate inflation at fastest in nearly 4½ years in October, while CPI rise moderates

China’s producer inflation accelerated to its fastest pace in nearly 4½ years while consumer inflation cooled in October, data showed on Nov 9.

IKEA CEO vows to bring growth back after sales fall for third year

IKEA sales across 64 countries were €43.8 billion (S$63 billion) in the financial year ending Aug 31, down 2% compared to 2025.

People really like cheaper stuff from China

Chinese companies have learnt to deliver more for less at home, where they have scale.

Is Chinamaxxing about to reach its ‘Made in Japan’ moment?

While consumers in the US still scoff, that’s only because they have little experience with the quality of China-made vehicles, seen here at Suzhou port.

In Your Opinion

At McDonald’s for 16 years, he thought he knew the business. Then he joined Chagee

Eugene Lee said that at Chagee, rival brands are referred to internally not as competitors but as laoshi, or teachers.

French consumer confidence hits a 2013 low in October amid protests

The proportion of consumers who believe that prices have risen sharply over the past 12 months has risen by 14 points in the last two months.

Even China’s wealthy are cutting back, deepening slump for Hermes and Cartier

Chinese consumers are tightening their belts and pivoting to “pre-owned” Western brands or upstart new Chinese ones.

Consumers can put pressure on haze-linked firms by buying green-labelled products: Experts

It means boycotting products without green labels, which indicate whether a company has sustainable land use practices, such as not clearing land by fire.

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MDDI (P) 046/10/2025. Published by SPH Media Limited, Co. Regn. No.202120748H. Copyright © 2026 SPH Media Limited. All rights reserved.