SARS-hit Singapore retailers boosted by 'great sale': Survey

SARS-hit Singapore retailers boosted by 'great sale': Survey

Agence France-Presse Singapore

This year's 'Great Singapore Sale' gave a much-needed boost to the island's retail industry and reversed sharp revenue falls resulting from SARS, an industry group said on Thursday.

The Singapore Retailers Association (SRA) said in a statement that revenues of participating establishments rose by an average of 15 percent during the heavily-promoted shopping festival in the first two weeks of July.

More than half of the retailers who responded to a survey saw a sales increase, with the highest reported at 59 percent.

The city-state's retail and tourism industries were ravaged by Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) from March to May as people stayed home for fear of contracting the disease.

"At the height of the SARS crisis, stores turned into ghost towns as shoppers stayed away from crowded places... retailers saw sales plunge as much as 70 percent," SRA's executive director Lau Chuen Wei said.

But she said retailers managed to turn the tide by slashing prices sharply.

"Even consumers told us that the offers this year were truly unbelievable," Lau said.

Another 22 percent of respondents maintained their sales turnover, compared with last year's sale.

The increases helped to boost total retail sales for June to S$1.9 billion (US$1.09 billion), a 9.6 percent increase year-on- year.

The biggest increase came from the sale of watches and jewelry that went up by 24.7 percent, and the optical goods and books segment, which rose 16.8 percent.

The sale was first organized by the Singapore Tourism board in 1994 to help enhance the city-state's retail competitiveness and reputation as a shopping paradise.

It gained added significance this year because the sale began just as the island was declared SARS-free by the World Health Organization.