Retailers' festive cheer fizzles out as sales vanish

Consumer sentiment remains uncertain.

The holiday season won’t give retailers their much-needed sales boost, as consumer sentiment remains dampened by a lack of confidence on Singapore’s medium-term growth prospects.

According to ANZ Roy Morgan, under half of respondents believe that Singapore will have good times economically over the next five years, a time-frame under which the dividends of supply side restructuring are expected to become apparent.

“With the Christmas lights on Orchard Road already lit, consumer sentiment does not appear to be glowing brightly as we head into the Christmas season. Retail sales and consumer activity could well prove to be a dampener on the season, given overarching concerns that supply-side restructuring is obviously engendering,” said Glenn Maguire, ANZ Roy Morgan Chief Economist South Asia.

“Though Singaporean consumer confidence rose slightly in November – basically pegging its year-to-date average – the granularity of the data suggests that consumers lack visibility on the medium-term prospects for the Singaporean economy, a dynamic we do not expect to change anytime soon. This lack of visibility will hamper any significant rebound in domestic demand, certainly a consumer-led one, and suggests a continued sub-par performance for the Singaporean economy going forward,” he added.