Retail Reits should be able to weather e-commerce threat

TWO years since it made its foray into the local market, e-commerce giant Amazon has expanded its offerings with the launch of its Singapore website, which could put pressure on some retailers.

Retail Reits, however, are unlikely to be impacted in a big way as they continue with their efforts to fine-tune their tenant mix by bringing in more experiential activities and food & beverage (F&B) tenants to fend off the e-commerce onslaught.

Instead, Amazon's key rivals will likely be entrenched e-commerce incumbents such as Alibaba-backed Lazada, Sea's Shopee and Qoo10. In the fight for retail dollars, it's worth noting that online players - such as struggling startup HonestBee - aren't impervious to headwinds and competition either.