The Singapore retail industry has faced a challenging year in 2015, both in the luxury and the mass-market sectors. Despite this, fast fashion and mass market brands have not been affected as strongly as the luxury sector, with some key players moving ahead with expansion plans to open new stores in sub-urban areas throughout 2016.
Slowing economic growth, dwindling tourism and evolving consumption patterns have strained the retail industry in Singapore. Despite this, overall sentiment around luxury and retail is generally positive. According to a report from PwC, sales growth in the region will be the fastest globally over the next five years, averaging 8.5% in monetary terms and 4.6% in average volume.
Due to evolving market conditions, luxury brands are seeing the importance of growing local Singaporean clientele and are ramping up their offerings to provide an increasingly tailored and exclusive shopping experience. This new focus has sparked a demand for a new generation of roles which include in-store clientele development specialists, clientele development managers, VIP managers, personal shoppers and boutique directors.
To address the talent shortage, some brands are looking to hire talent outside of the luxury retail industry, particularly those who have strong networks of high net-worth clients, customer relationship management (CRM) expertise, as well as candidates with high-end customer service backgrounds. Pay for these frontline and back end operational roles is expected to increase by 1-5%.
Alston Tan, Luxury and Retail specialist consultant, Randstad Singapore highlighted the importance of employer branding in attracting this key taleent, “More often than not, companies tend to associate consumer branding with employer branding, thinking that the consumer brand will attract and retain the best talent. As consumer and employer branding do not always equate, luxury and retail companies have to focus on their employer branding.”
Paul Arkwright
Publisher
