E-commerce and digitalisation key to transforming retail sector: Gan

LEVERAGING the opportunities made available by e-commerce and digitalisation will be key for the transformation of the retail sector, said Minister for Trade and Industry, Gan Kim Yong, following a visit to shoe retailer Charles & Keith on Tuesday.

"Digitalisation is a very important enabler for the retail sector to be able to emerge from Covid-19 stronger. I'm quite confident that the retail sector will be able to recover and do well when we reach a Covid-19 resilient state," he said.

This is despite the fact that the journey will be "quite challenging" noted Mr Gan. And while the necessary support to facilitate the transformation will be made available, businesses must continue to invest in their organisations, particularly in the capability and skills development of employees.

The Retail Industry Digital Plan, which is aligned to the Retail Industry Transformation Map, for instance, provides a step-by-step guide on the digital solutions local SMEs in the retail industry can adopt at each stage of their growth.

These industry digital plans are designed to tackle the challenges specific to each sector, noted Minister of State for Trade and Industry Low Yen Ling. For the retail sector for instance, the plan offers digital solutions targeted from the design phase to the retail stage.

Said Ms Low: "In that whole value chain, how do we support them in thinking digital? For example, procurement. By going digital, it allows them to source for more suppliers and because of the transparency, it will allow them to do price optimisation."

Ms Low added that they are working with trade associations and chambers to reach out to enterprises and brand owners to understand where they stand on the digital-readiness scale and what they hope to achieve.

"The industry digital plan has a repertoire of digital solutions to support each of the enterprises in enhancing their digital capabilities. Depending on where they want to focus - some of them may want to focus on staff, and some may want to focus on the shop front or back of the house - there's something for everyone in terms of the digital solutions."