DBS, SingPost and Google launch online shopping festival

Google, along with DBS and SingPost have launched a 72-hour-long Great Online Shopping Festival. From midnight on 2 February, the online shopping festival will bring deals from over 60 brands onto a common platform to Singaporeans.SingPost is offering its delivery and returns solutions to brands taking part in the festival. SingPost is also offering online shoppers access to 90 POPStations — or smart locker stations — around the island, which will allow them to collect, pay or even return their purchases round-the-clock. Additionally, brands powered by SingPost’s end-to-end eCommerce service such as shop.adidas.com.sg will be offering exclusive online pre-orders for their top-selling collections during the GOSF, while cocomi.com will be giving away Pandora bracelets for a minimum spend of SG$250.The festival is supported by SPRING Singapore. Kee Ai Nah, group director, industry development group, SPRING Singapore said that the response by local retailers signal their commitment to ramp up their own capabilities in alternative modes of shopping, especially for digital-savvy customers.“In this era of mobile device-enabled consumers, retailers must offer compelling propositions to engage and create shopping experiences beyond the conventional strategies of brick-and-mortar stores. We hope that the GOSF will build stronger confidence in eCommerce amongst retailers, and enable them to create more opportunities to grow their sales,” said Kee.“As we mark the 50th anniversary of Singapore’s independence and progress, we are also sparking a celebration at Singapore’s Great Online Shopping Festival, where our customers can enjoy the best shopping deals from over 60 participating merchants. […] By leveraging our deep consumer insights and the ability to form strategic partnerships, we have been able to lead the industry with innovative programmes that are relevant to our customers’ lifestyle preferences,” said Lim Bee Bee, head of marketing for consumer banking group (Singapore), DBS Bank.According to a study conducted by TNS, 69% of Singaporeans research products online before purchasing — this is ahead of the US at 52%, Germany at 54% and the UK at 62%. Of these Singaporeans shoppers, 45% also go on to complete their purchase online, a trend that is on par with other advanced.“Singaporeans are sophisticated shoppers and the Internet is a key part of the shopping process for them. Nearly 70% of shoppers research purchases online and almost half of these go on to complete their purchases on the web. And this is a trend that holds across devices — a staggering 12% of Singaporean Internet users shop on mobile at least once a week; that’s more than France, Germany or Japan,” said Joanna Flint, country director, Singapore, Google Asia Pacific.