Friday Late Night Shopping
24th January 2007
Orchard Road , Singapore
Friday Late Night Shopping Returns,
More Exciting and On a Grander Scale

More Malls, Retailers Join Friday Late Night Shopping Following Best Response To Date In March

Friday Late Night Shopping at Singapore’s prime retail district, Orchard Road, launches into its fourth month this year with two additional shopping malls joining the programme, making a total of over 300 retailers who will extend their operating hours up till midnight on the last Friday of each month.

Cathay Cineleisure Orchard and The Cathay are the latest to hop onto the bandwagon. They will join existing participating shopping malls and retailers including Far East Plaza, Pacific Plaza, TANGS @ Orchard, Wheelock Place, Wisma Atria, Paragon and The Centrepoint.

The pilot run of the Friday Late Night Shopping programme took place between July and November last year with 52 retailers. It was officially launched in January this year with 250 retailers.

“Friday Late Night Shopping has been a resounding success. The positive feedback we have been receiving from retailers, the growing number of participating malls and their tenants, as well as sales, are testimony of the potential of the late night economy and Singapore’s positive retail climate,” said Mr Andrew Phua, Director, Cluster Development (Tourism Shopping & Dining) at the Singapore Tourism Board.

STB had launched the Friday Late Night Shopping initiative as part of its strategy to meet increasing demand, particularly among business travellers who have limited time to shop due to their busy schedules. At the same time, the extended shopping hours create more synergy with the food, beverage and entertainment outlets, thereby injecting more excitement and vibrancy along Orchard Road long after the sun sets. Going forward, Mr Phua said, “We want to encourage more retailers and other shopping precincts to extend their operating hours in order to further entrench late night shopping as part of the Uniquely Singapore shopping experience. This will help enhance our profile as a compelling world-class lifestyle destination.”

A key tourism pillar, shopping accounted for S$3.26 billion in tourism receipts in 2005, or about half of visitor expenditure. Aside from organising and supporting events, as well as attracting international brands or unique retail concepts to establish themselves in Singapore, the STB initiated late night shopping as a further boost to the shopping and retail landscape.

For many of the participating retailers, Friday Late Night Shopping last month (March 2007) recorded one of the best sales contributions since the start of the initiative. Ms Ellen Yeo, Vice President, Store Management at TANGS, said the store registered an increase of 47 per cent in sales, compared to sales on a regular Friday. During the extended shopping hours, there was also an improvement of 3.5 per cent to 8.5 per cent in sales contribution. She said, “I believe it was a combination of different factors, such as our ads, our PlayLab show in conjunction with the Singapore Fashion Festival, and our fun fringe activities, that contributed to the overwhelming sales. We will continue to organise such activities to complement Friday Late Night Shopping to ensure a fun-filled experience for our shoppers!”

Mr Tong Kok Wing, General Manager, Frasers Centrepoint Malls, was also delighted with the positive response to The Centrepoint’s Friday Night Shopping Fever promotion on 30 March. He said, “We attribute the success to the exciting Mercury Rising Draw, a specially conceptualised game with more than $13,000 worth of shopping vouchers to be won by our late night shoppers. We also had many red hot promotions and cash giveaways, as we were also celebrating the opening of a new wing. Tenants played their part by offering special deals and huge savings. We will continue to spice up Singapore’s late night shopping experience with more sizzling deals, exciting events and festivities at The Centrepoint in the months to come.”

Smaller tenants within shopping malls also had positive reviews to share. For the Citigems store located at Wisma Atria, Friday Late Night Shopping is an ideal platform for them to tap their customer segment. Mr Steven Koh, Director at Citigems, said, “We have been very pleased with the response of the Friday Late Night Shopping initiative since we started participating in January 2007. It has enabled us to further enhance our reach among our target audience who are aged 21 to 25, many of whom tend to spend their Friday nights out with their friends. We believe this initiative is a win-win situation for both Citigems and our consumers.”

Ms Shulyn Tan from Little Match Girl at Wisma Atria commented, “Friday Late Night Shopping has really made Orchard Road even more vibrant at night. And the shopping hours seem too short even, because there are so many attractive promotions offered by different retailers.”

Mr Tom Ng, Director of Pazzion at Wisma Atria agreed, saying, “The atmosphere during Friday Late Night Shopping is great. Shoppers are typically in high spirits and eager to check out what retailers have to offer. Overall, there is quite a buzz within the whole mall, and the shopping environment is lively.”

As with previous months, retailers will continue to offer special in-store promotions and activities when Friday Late Night Shopping is held this week on April 27. They include Metro Paragon which will be offering a 20 per cent storewide discount, and Robinsons Centrepoint which will be extending a 20 per cent discount for selected fashion apparel. Public transport hours will continue to be extended to complement Friday Late Night Shopping.