Long queues at malls in S'pore, but some retail shops report poor sales on 1st day of Phase 2

But they're open, and that's worth a lot.

Nyi Nyi Thet | Syahindah Ishak | June 20, 2020, 11:45 AM

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The first day of phase two predictably saw a rise in the number of people on the streets and in malls.

The queues were quite intense.

Here's Compass One at around 5.50pm.

Image by Belmont Lay

These scenes were repeated in other parts of Singapore as well.

There were queues for more well-known stores like Zara, Daiso or Pull&Bear at shopping malls like ION.

Image by Melanie Lim

Image by Melanie Lim

That wasn't the case in some other more heartland malls.

When Mothership went down to Bishan Junction 8 at around 4pm, there were definitely people, though perhaps not as many as at Compass One or Waterway Point, with long queues at eateries and bubble tea stores.

Image taken by Syahindah Ishak

However some of the retail shops we talked to expressed concerns about the sales volume so far.

One clothing shop told Mothership that there had only been two customers since they had opened at 11am.

Image by Syahindah Ishak

Lifestyle department store, BHG, also concurred that it had pretty "quiet" so far.

Another clothes store tailored for young girls also blamed the general Covid-19 situation for the quiet sales so far in the day.

However sports store Weston described their sales as "ok" and that over 30 customers had come to his shop since 11am.

Image by Muhd Ashari/ Google Maps

A reason for their increase in sales could be the discounted prices that they had up that day.

One frustration brought up was the difficulty in monitoring customers who come in and ensuring that these customers were scanned, when usually they could completely focus on just serving their customers.

In a CNA article detailing what some in Ang Mo Kio felt about the first day of Phase 2, the article noted that the crowds were largely at "general stores selling essential good such as food, appliances and household items".

They also quoted a Sengkang resident, who had made her way to Ang Mo Kio to shop at the ABC store.

“I’m just coming out to stock up, then going home,” she said. She said she was afraid to stay out too long, citing the possibility of a second wave of COVID-19 infection.

As the weekend crowds shuffle back in slowly but surely, there might be a slight difference in how quickly the crowds return to retail stores in more traditional shopping areas like ION, compared to more heartland areas like Ang Mo Kio or Bishan.

In fact, a CNBC article warned against expecting a huge bounceback in retail sales.

Selena Ling, head of treasury research and strategy at Singaporean bank OCBC, told CNBC that while "pent-up demand and retail sales could snap back a little bit in June," she would "caution that this is probably going to be a fairly muted recovery from now".

Ling said that the real litmus test would be about two weeks later after seeing whether there is any "pick up" in Covid-19 cases.

Despite what appears to be a bit of a slow start for some of the stores, most of the shopowners and staff, some of the staff had not been working for the past two months and were eager to get back into the thick of things, and expressed excitement at the prospect of finally having their stores open once again.

Images by Syahindah Ishak