S'pore 10th most popular retail city

A SURVEY of 326 of the world's top retailers showed that 38.9 per cent of them are in Singapore, making it the 10th most popular retail city in the world.

The only Asian city to fare better was Hong Kong, which ranked sixth with 40.5 per cent of retailers surveyed in the city.

Shanghai and Beijing were ranked 11th and 13th respectively, followed by Tokyo in 19th place.

The 2012 edition of CBRE's annual survey, How Global is the Business of Retail?, also showed that Asian retailers are increasing their footprint in the global market, with 26 per cent of them having a presence in two regions today compared with 22 per cent last year.

"Asian retailers are less well travelled than their European and American counterparts, due primarily to the unexploited opportunities in their own region. When they do expand into a new region, Dubai, Melbourne and Sydney are the top targets," the report noted.

CBRE's annual survey - now in its fifth year - maps the global footprint of retailers including luxury brands, mid-range fashion brands, denim retailers, homeware and department stores, and coffee, restaurant, supermarket and consumer electronic brands.

Singapore is the most targeted market in Asia for European retailers, with 39.9 per cent of European brands present here, the survey found.

"This is testament to the successful evolution of Singapore as a global city and tourist destination. Singapore remains an accessible potential test bed for new brands and retailers seeking a South East Asian, Asian exposure," Letty Lee, CBRE director of retail services in Singapore, said.

For new retailer entries in the region, Vietnam has been a consistently growing market over the last two years, with a large, young and increasingly affluent population who are becoming ever more fashion-conscious, CBRE noted.

Chinese cities will continue to dominate shopping centre development activity, over the next few years. Eight out of the top 10 most-active retail development markets globally are in China.

On an international basis, London has reclaimed the top spot as the most targeted market for international retailers.

The city attracts more than half of all international retail brands surveyed after sharing the top spot with Dubai last year, CBRE said.

Thanks-Business Times