Chart of the Day: Here's how low Singapore's retail sales dipped in the last 2 years

Even the F&B sector crumbled.

According to Savills, the Christmas festive period lifted December retail sales (excluding motor vehicles) by 0.3% year-on-year (YoY). 

However, notwithstanding the Christmas period, discretionary expenditure slowed from September to December, with the latter recording a 6.3% YoY decline in watch and
jewellery sales.

Here's more from Savills:

The F&B sector remained strong for 11 months of the year before flattening in December. The Republic’s economy moderated slightly to a 5.5% YoY growth in the final quarter of 2013.

Unemployment figures are expected to remain similar to Q3/2013’s 1.8% as most companies offer bonus payouts in December, reducing the likelihood of employees changing jobs during this period.

According to flash estimates, the number of international tourist arrivals for Q4/2013 stood at 3.7 million, similar to levels achieved in the same period last year.

From the retailers’ perspective, increasing hiring costs due to tighter labour market conditions and higher workers’ levies continued to be the main obstacle to expansion or even remaining in business.  

Retailers have therefore started to automate some services, including the use of tablets to place food orders at Sakae Sushi and robots to assist in food preparation at Ruyi, to reduce their reliance on labour.

However, retail operations still require a high level of human involvement and the existing difficulties experienced in the labour market are hindering retailers’ expansion plans.