http://tnp.sg/news/story/0,4136,205161,00.html?
S'pore Sale great, say tourists, but...
Local shoppers are less enthusiastic
By Ho Lian-Yi
June 16, 2009
THE Great Singapore Sale (GSS) is now on. But is it really great?
Tourists gave a big thumbs-up to the annual event.
Three-quarters of 50 tourists polled by The New Paper thought the deals were good.
The remaining said it was no big deal. No one thought the deals were lousy.
Tourists also said the GSS discounts encouraged them to spend more than they usually did.
But local shoppers are harder to impress, it seems.
After all, with the recession, many retailers have already been dangling discounts before the GSS hit town.
When we polled 50 Singaporeans, a third said the offers were good.
Twice as many felt lukewarm about the bargains.
A small number - 10 per cent - even said the deals were lousy.
But visitors here are bowled over.
Said Mr George Huang, 26, from China: 'The deals look good and I can see the word 'sale' everywhere when I walk down Orchard Road.
'It's my first time here in Singapore but I already think it's great.'
Ms Nadine Trunter, 25, from Europe, agreed: 'The discounts are great. With the GSS, I can buy really cheap clothes here compared with my home country.'
While locals might expect more from a 'great sale', they are not immune to the buzz.
Miss Yar, 21, a freelancer, said that she would spend more anyway during the GSS as sales make her want to spend more than she needs to.
Local v foreign
So why the difference in perceptions between Singaporean shoppers and tourists?
Industry experts said one reason could be that tourists who are here during this period are likely to have come for the GSS.
Dr Peter De Maeyer, assistant professor of marketing at the Singapore Management University, said 'confirmation bias' may be one factor.
'If someone comes expressly with the purpose of shopping for sales, there's a confirmation bias,' he explained.
'Once they are committed mentally to something, they look for confirming evidence, or they have to admit they made a mistake.'
From his viewpoint as a consumer, he also pointed out that sales happen in Singapore throughout the year. He has seen only a few discounts as high as 70 per cent.
'For the average Singaporean used to frequent discounts, it's not that big yet,' he said. 'But someone from Australia may be impressed with 30 per cent. Baseline expectations may be different.'
He added that it may be worthwhile for organisations like the Singapore Tourism Board to collect more data, perhaps by surveying each target country to find out which one is the best target.
As for Singaporeans, he said he wasn't sure how much could be done. Without changing the backdrop of year-round sales, Singaporeans are going to have expectations that they can buy things on discount a lot of the time.
Mr Kelvin Ng, director of branding at Acacia Designs, said the poll findings did not surprise him.
Different mode
Foreigners would be in a 'different mode'. In terms of behaviour and reception to sales. They would be 'more attuned and less critical', he said.
Personally, he found this year's GSS particularly fruitful.
'For higher value brands where they do not push for price promotions all year as it would kill or demean their brand, this year is particularly good,' he added.
This is because these retailers have to clear a lot of stock because of the state of the economy, he explained.
By comparison, previous years' pickings of such goods were slim.
'If you give more variety, not only in recession but also in normal boom years, it would make the GSS better,' he said.
Mr Wong Kai Hong, chief executive of business management and consultancy TR21, pointed out that the local figures were actually quite impressive in context.
Despite being bombarded by year-round sales, a reasonable number of those polled still said the bargains were good.
Additional reporting by Han Su-Ying, Jovita Chua, Ervina Mohamed Jamil, Shannon Gerard Rezel
S'pore Sale great, say tourists, but...
Local shoppers are less enthusiastic
By Ho Lian-Yi
June 16, 2009
THE Great Singapore Sale (GSS) is now on. But is it really great?
Tourists gave a big thumbs-up to the annual event.
Three-quarters of 50 tourists polled by The New Paper thought the deals were good.
The remaining said it was no big deal. No one thought the deals were lousy.
Tourists also said the GSS discounts encouraged them to spend more than they usually did.
But local shoppers are harder to impress, it seems.
After all, with the recession, many retailers have already been dangling discounts before the GSS hit town.
When we polled 50 Singaporeans, a third said the offers were good.
Twice as many felt lukewarm about the bargains.
A small number - 10 per cent - even said the deals were lousy.
But visitors here are bowled over.
Said Mr George Huang, 26, from China: 'The deals look good and I can see the word 'sale' everywhere when I walk down Orchard Road.
'It's my first time here in Singapore but I already think it's great.'
Ms Nadine Trunter, 25, from Europe, agreed: 'The discounts are great. With the GSS, I can buy really cheap clothes here compared with my home country.'
While locals might expect more from a 'great sale', they are not immune to the buzz.
Miss Yar, 21, a freelancer, said that she would spend more anyway during the GSS as sales make her want to spend more than she needs to.
Local v foreign
So why the difference in perceptions between Singaporean shoppers and tourists?
Industry experts said one reason could be that tourists who are here during this period are likely to have come for the GSS.
Dr Peter De Maeyer, assistant professor of marketing at the Singapore Management University, said 'confirmation bias' may be one factor.
'If someone comes expressly with the purpose of shopping for sales, there's a confirmation bias,' he explained.
'Once they are committed mentally to something, they look for confirming evidence, or they have to admit they made a mistake.'
From his viewpoint as a consumer, he also pointed out that sales happen in Singapore throughout the year. He has seen only a few discounts as high as 70 per cent.
'For the average Singaporean used to frequent discounts, it's not that big yet,' he said. 'But someone from Australia may be impressed with 30 per cent. Baseline expectations may be different.'
He added that it may be worthwhile for organisations like the Singapore Tourism Board to collect more data, perhaps by surveying each target country to find out which one is the best target.
As for Singaporeans, he said he wasn't sure how much could be done. Without changing the backdrop of year-round sales, Singaporeans are going to have expectations that they can buy things on discount a lot of the time.
Mr Kelvin Ng, director of branding at Acacia Designs, said the poll findings did not surprise him.
Different mode
Foreigners would be in a 'different mode'. In terms of behaviour and reception to sales. They would be 'more attuned and less critical', he said.
Personally, he found this year's GSS particularly fruitful.
'For higher value brands where they do not push for price promotions all year as it would kill or demean their brand, this year is particularly good,' he added.
This is because these retailers have to clear a lot of stock because of the state of the economy, he explained.
By comparison, previous years' pickings of such goods were slim.
'If you give more variety, not only in recession but also in normal boom years, it would make the GSS better,' he said.
Mr Wong Kai Hong, chief executive of business management and consultancy TR21, pointed out that the local figures were actually quite impressive in context.
Despite being bombarded by year-round sales, a reasonable number of those polled still said the bargains were good.
Additional reporting by Han Su-Ying, Jovita Chua, Ervina Mohamed Jamil, Shannon Gerard Rezel
by holding it the same month..
, Tangs have a store there...You can find all the branded goods there, but they are not current as in SINgapore...The GMS...can find you some bargains..I bought something I needed there..once, when they had the GMS...
