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SingPost’s new shopping mall to offer e-comm logistics services
The mall, scheduled for completion in 2017, will be all about ‘O2′ (O-squared), a convergence of shopping offline and online
Artist’s impression of the new retail mall at Singapore Post Centre
Singapore Post Limited (SingPost) has announced its plans to build the country’s first retail mall that offers a complete suite of e-commerce logistics solutions.
Online merchants and brick-and-mortar shops will be housed under one roof. Consumers will have the option of ordering a particular item online in the store, and have more flexibility in choosing delivery or pickup timings.
“For instance, a consumer could browse in-store, purchase the product and arrange for delivery of the product directly to their home. The consumer could then continue shopping, watch a movie or have a meal in the mall without having to carry bulky shopping bags. The retailer, on the other hand, could save on storage space in the store as fulfillment would be done at the backend of the warehouse,” said SingPost.
The national post carrier expects to spend S$150 million (about US$107 million) in construction costs, “which includes upgrading amenities and the façade for the adjoining office building”, according to an official release.
Image Credit: SingPost
The mall, which is said to have 25,000 sq metres of retail space, is scheduled to be built by mid-2017.
It will be located next to Paya Lebar MRT Station, at the present open concourse in front of the Singapore Post Centre (SPC).
Not only does SingPost acknowledge that there is a “changing retail landscape” in the city-state, the firm also understands that it should cater “to the evolving needs of consumers”.
“SingPost is building a unique and disruptive concept – converging online and offline – to gain maximum customer benefits. With the new retail mall at SPC, consumers can enjoy the best of both worlds – online and offline – while businesses can potentially cut costs and focus on enhancing customer experiences,” said Wolfgang Baier, Group Chief Executive Officer, SingPost.
The company also used this opportunity to distinguish its ‘O2′ strategy from the more popularly-known buzzword O2O, or Online-to-Offline.
While O2 refers to the retail fulfillment of Online to Offline and vice versa, O2O is the other way around: The consumer purchases something online but receives it at the store.
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Baier said, “The SPC O2 retail concept puts consumers at the heart of this evolution, allowing them to have greater retail options and more convenience.”
SingPost has spent the last few years pulling up its socks and studying the e-commerce game, building POP Stations, which are lockers that will hold online purchases until the customer goes to pick them up, spending S$182 million (about US$130 million) in constructing a regional e-commerce logistics hub and acquiring other companies to grow its operations.
According to a March 2014 article on Tech in Asia, 28 per cent of SingPost’s total revenue comes from e-commerce, which includes delivering goods for businesses.
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“The redevelopment of the retail mall at SPC is part of our efforts to extract maximum value from our property portfolio and support our accelerated transformation from Singapore mail to global e-commerce logistics,” said Lim Ho Kee, Chairman, SingPost.
The new and upcoming mall will have four above-ground levels and one basement, an eight-hall cineplex, SingPost’s flagship post office, retail shops, as well as food and beverage outlets.
The mall will come equipped with three levels of underground car park, according to the same release.
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