Shoppers in Singapore now have a host of new options. A slew of flagship stores have recently hit the city-state, with international luxury brands including Christian Dior, Jimmy Choo, Chanel and Chopard opening outlets.
A plush new mall is also opening on Orchard Road next week called ION Orchard. With Omega’s flagship store as one of its tenants, the mall is reported to have rented out 70 per cent of its space to other flagship or new concept stores for exclusive, global brands.
A plush new mall is also opening on Orchard Road next week called ION Orchard. With Omega’s flagship store as one of its tenants, the mall is reported to have rented out 70 per cent of its space to other flagship or new concept stores for exclusive, global brands.
Consumers are under growing financial pressure, so what is the purpose of these marquee openings? Mark Budden MD of Design Bridge, argues that flagship outlets are increasingly serving a branding purpose. “This is all informed by the brand idea, which is bigger, better and bolder than their current fleet [of stores],” he says.
Retail brand experiences are becoming increasingly diverse. Chivas Regal recently launched KPO, a restaurant-bar destination on Orchard Road, describing it as a “multi-experiential brand experience”. And watch brand IWC opened a gentleman’s lounge complete with a library and fireplace in its new outlet. Budden argues that the best brands are looking at “in-store touchpoints with more imagination, avoiding the logo slap and revealing more layers of their brand story and enhancing engagement and interaction.”
This is not just a Singaporean phenomenon. Last year, adidas launched a huge flagship store in Beijing. Jonathan Cummings, MD for Start, which worked on the brand’s stores in Beijing, Berlin and Paris, explains how it used sports technology to develop an in-store ‘reflex test’, which measured physical activities including how high customers could jump. Cummings says: “It’s about getting the right balance between the people, the environment and the brand, and this is where flagship stores can come into their own.”
Increasingly, there are opportunities to interact with consumers in-store. Allowing people to use in-store kiosks to find out more about the brand, or to select or customise products, can drive sales and lead to data capture.
Budden explains that for high-end brands, the whole retail experience is a key aspect of their marketing strategy. “For many consumers, the entire experience starts in the line-up for Louis Vuitton or gazing into the windows at Chopard. For many it’s almost a form of escapism. Brands need to tap into those emotions to develop these personal relationships.”
Jane Perry, board director at Iris Global Retail Centre of Excellence, argues that Singapore is a good location for the latest batch of flagship stores, as they can capture a share of the luxury tourist market. “Flagships on Orchard Road offer incredible visibility to the millions of shoppers who visit annually. A flagship store located here is often more of a branding exercise than a revenue exercise.”
Graham Hitchmough, director of client services and consulting at The Brand Union Singapore, insists that the downturn will not derail this trend.
“We seem to have this impression that luxury brands live in some parallel universe where their focus is aesthetics and design,” he says. “But these brands also earn huge money and have the best marketers. Their decisions are not taken overnight. They work on a long-term basis.”
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