Naiise SG faces retail woes and payment issues

Local multi-label retailer Naiise has some brands pulling out of its stores due to delay in payments and owing thousands of dollars in sales. In an article by The Straits Times, homegrown brands that got on board Naiise to push their products are retreating from the business, while some are reducing stock count in stores.

Naiise first started out as an online store in 2013, with just 20 brands and a small presence of Facebook. The retailer now has physical stores around Singapore, and currently also operates in Malaysia and the United Kingdom. According to its site, Naiise has more than 20,000 products from over 700 creatives and makers worldwide. Naiise recently also opened its first cafe business called The Pantry, at Jewel Changi Airport. Similar to its retail store, The Pantry has local brands Joe & Dough, Nuude, Bettr Barista and Doki Doki serving its pastries and beverages.

The ST article said that several local brands jumped on Naiise to get recognised and market its products. Some of the issues raised by brands include delayed sales reports, accounting discrepancies and evasive replies, as reported by ST. Naiise founder Dennis Tay said to ST that the company is indeed facing administrative issues and strengthened its finance team. He confirmed that he was reached out regarding payment issues, and said that he looks into it and requests the finance team to resolve the matter.

In a statement to Marketing, a Naiise spokesperson apologised for the delayed payments to some of its brands, and said that it has reached out to those affected to explain the situation and ensure all are swiftly paid.

"While our core operating revenues have grown by more than 40% year-on-year, we have regrettably experienced a tight cash flow situation due to unexpected delays in payments due to Naiise. Payments to brands for sales at Design Orchard have not been affected. Amid a challenging retail environment in 2019, we have helped more than 60% of our brands achieve positive year-on-year sales growth last year," the spokesperson added.

The retail scene in Singapore has been tough on several brands. Recently, hardware chain Home-Fix said that it will shut down its brick-and-mortar stores islandwide, but keep its dedicated eCommerce site active. Home-Fix faced commonly cited challenges by retailers such as high mall rentals, competition from eCommerce players, that eventually led to financial distress.

This came shortly after cosmetics retailer Sasa International will soon be exiting the Singapore market to focus on Malaysia, Hong Kong as well as its eCommerce business. According to Sasa, the group’s performance in Singapore has been less than satisfactory for many years, and has recorded losses for six consecutive years.

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