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  physical presence. “We strongly believe in products are returned at lower rates when 大众集团自1924年在新加坡起步以 来,硕果累累;然而时至今日, 因本地书业环境的转变,也面临不少挑 战。许多书店在变幻莫测的商业环境中 挣扎求存,同时被电子阅读器、电子商 务等线上竞争者瓜分消费市场。2020年 1月新加坡出现冠病疫情以来,消费者 为了健康安全而减少出门,不少书店业 者生意受重挫,不得不结束营业;但大 众依旧屹立不倒。 行业有别以往 为能成为消费者的心中之选,大众在诸 多便利的邻里中心打造书局网络。互联 网时代的到来,意味着消费者能在网上 货比三家,因此各书局开始比拼价格。 此外,科技的进步让书籍实现数码化, 以电子版出售。新兴商家也通过电子商 务获得资本;线上零售商因能直面各种 发行商取货、无需缴付店租等,而能提 供更低廉的价格。 例如最大线上零售商亚马逊,坐拥 1亿300万会员,能利用其顾客群影响 供应商,为旗下书籍争取超过60%的折 扣,并在2014年创下38亿6000万新元的 营收。然而在美国的实体店竞争对手生 意却每况愈下,超过一半的独立书店在 1994至2014年间相继结业,造成了此次 的“零售大灾难”。 新加坡式发展 尽管结束部分海外业务,大众在本地继 the future of brick-and-mortar businesses in Singapore, especially for the retailing of books. Our standard process has been to continually review the performance of each of our retail stores, and from there: close non-performing stores upon lease expiry, focus on improving the space productivity of existing stores through effective merchandising, display and marketing, and seek out new locations that are in line with our development strategy of maintaining high accessibility for families. Physical stores are avenues for students, parents and educators to personally evaluate and review the materials, which is the most convenient and efficient method of evaluation, before making their purchase.” Nevertheless, POPULAR adjusted its strategy by adding an online presence that would complement its business. In May 2020, it introduced an e-commerce store on local shopping platform Lazada. “The pandemic presented us with the opportunity to review our online strategy. Our two-pronged approach simultaneously focuses on establishing a comprehensive in-house e-commerce platform that integrates business-to-business (B2B) and business-to-consumer (B2C) services, while leveraging on third-party marketplaces to exponentially expand our online presence.” The Next Step Many retailers are moving to hybrid business models. Online stores find that customers have easy access to information at a physical location, especially when there is uncertainty on non-digital features such as taste, smell or feel. A storefront also allows customers the option of picking up their purchases and help companies optimise fulfilment operations. POPULAR planned an omni-channel strategy using a more experiential retail store that allowed consumers to start and finish the customer journey using different channels. This strategy would allow POPULAR to rightsize its store network and keep less inventory in each store. POPULAR would use its online presence to engage with consumers on social media. As home delivery for small items such as books could be expensive, POPULAR could offer discounts for store pickup and entice customers to buy other items once they entered the store. “A seamless cross-channel experience supported by a network of retail stores and online platforms will form the foundation for future business development. Active developments in our retail platforms and enhancement of the shopping experience, coupled with the convenience of dynamic digital spaces, can help us future-proof the business and stay resilient when dealing with the fast-changing business landscape in this increasingly unpredictable world.” This is an adapted version of the Retail Centre of Excellence (RCOE) SMU Business School case study, “Popular Bookstore: Evolving into an Omni-Channel Retailer”. 14 - popularnews 137 


































































































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