It's time to get shoppers excited again about the Great Singapore Sale: Opinion

In a commentary piece, Assistant Professor Charlene Chen, Associate Professor Elison Lim, and Assistant Professor Kuangjie Zhang from NTU Singapore’s Nanyang Business School discuss how the once hotly anticipated GSS needs to find fresh ways of exciting shoppers beyond giving them the best deals for their inflation-shrunk dollar.

The Great Singapore Sale (GSS) has been touted as the major shopping spree of the year since its inception in 1994. For more than a month, retail prices - from fashion and electronics to household goods and even tourist attraction tickets - are slashed to entice shoppers. Flashback to the late 1990s and early 2000s, the GSS was a hotly anticipated affair.

Tourists would plan their trips to Singapore during the GSS and locals would defer their purchases to enjoy the huge savings. According to the Singapore Tourism Board, in June and July 2005 when the GSS took place, retail sales increased by about 10 per cent and visitor arrivals by 9 per cent (compared to the year before).

The earlier generations may fondly recall the glory days of the GSS, which included fashion shows, performances by regional artistes, exhibitions and sales of limited-edition items. But for years now, people have bemoaned the lacklustre quality of the GSS.

“It is increasingly difficult to get consumers excited about the GSS, if it no longer feels as special as before. That said, it would be a pity to do away with the GSS,” they wrote, adding: “The GSS doesn’t have to slide into irrelevance. Concerted efforts are needed to re-establish the uniqueness and vibrancy of this national shopping event. It is high time to put the great back into the GSS again.”