omplex in the CBD, that aims to transport shoppers into the world of Uniqlo.com and help them understand the online services it offers through a fun and interactive experience. “The pop-up also highlights the [brand’s] continuous commitment to be a brand that is ‘made for all’, featuring best sellers and selected 2022 Fall/Winter U Collection pieces in online-exclusive extra sizes, XS-3XL,” Joyce Tan, marketing director of Uniqlo Singapore, told Inside Retail. According to Tan, the initiative is all about bringing to life the brand’s proposition of offering the largest Uniqlo store in the palm of their hands.  “Beyond products, we are also highlighting other O2O services like same-day click-and-collect, online alteration and checking store stock availability on our app,” she added. There is also a fun and engaging Bingo game with a claw machine where customers can walk away with prizes like app coupons, special gifts, free drinks or pastries from Dough. An interesting collaboration Tan elaborated that the collaboration with Dough gives the retailer a physical space outside of its stores to shine a light on Uniqlo.com’s services.  “With a brand takeover of a part of the cafe, we think it would be interesting to locate our Uniqlo.com pop-up experience at a popular food establishment and also leverage the area’s high organic footfall of young, working Gen Zs and Millennials,” she added. This target audience forms the majority of the brand’s online customers, so this collaboration made perfect sense for the brand. “This helps broaden our reach to our customers who can learn about our online services at a time of comfort while visiting their favourite cafe,” she noted. She went on to explain that its strategic location also serves as an interesting prelude to Uniqlo’s Raffles City store opening.  “Customers who frequent the City Hall area can enjoy seamless O2O shopping when the new store opens on 14 October,” she stated. The Singapore marketplace The brand opened its first store in 2009 in the Tampines area, and has since become a fashion mainstay among Singaporeans, with 26 stores island-wide. “We have been fortunate to receive strong support from customers, and we are committed to continue serving their varied needs,” Tan said. She elaborated that this is why the brand has been expanding its retail footprint with three new and refreshed stores so far in Singapore this year, and another four slated to open in the next six months. “In addition, we have introduced new services and differentiators unique to each retail platform that we have, both in physical stores and online,” she noted. The brand has also introduced initiatives to support customers with disabilities and special needs with better accessibility and an inclusive shopping experience this year at the 51 @ Ang Mo Kio store.  “Additionally, Uniqlo has also partnered with Cycle & Carriage Singapore to reduce the carbon footprint by making the switch to using electric vehicles for click-and-collect deliveries,” she added. The target audience According to Tan, over the years, the team has observed that customers are seeking essentials and are increasingly prioritising comfort, value and quality. She feels that as its LifeWear line is well positioned to cater to their consumers’ lifestyle needs, the brand has received widespread support from shoppers.  “For example, our ‘Uniqlo U Airism’ cotton crew neck oversized t-shirts went viral on social media platforms earlier this year as a common crowd favourite among locals and it inspired a range of meme content around it as the Singapore Uniform,” she said. Moreover, the brand has also secured top rankings in recent surveys such as YouGov Recommended Rankings and Institute of Service Excellence (ISE) by Singapore Management University for consumers’ recommendations and customer satisfaction respectively.  “This is a testament to Uniqlo’s quality as a brand in Singapore as well as consumers’ trust in us, which we are grateful for,” she noted. A unique proposition Tan is of the opinion that the brand holds a unique position in terms of the consumer psyche in Singapore. “When someone says, “online marketplace”, you immediately think about Shopee, Lazada and Amazon, which are e-commerce-first platforms. When Uniqlo entered Singapore in 2009, we built our customer base from retail stores,” she stressed. Visits to these stores became very much part of consumers’ routines, despite Singapore’s high digital penetration and online shopping rates. “That’s why introducing O2O services is a key part of our online strategy, which is what sets us apart from other online marketplace players,” she stated. In her opinion, the online store complements the wide network of offline stores, and helps to build cross-channel customers that are more loyal than single-channel ones.  “One of our popular O2O services would be same-day click-and-collect, which is used by around half of our customers including those who qualify for home delivery due to its high level of convenience,” she said. Customers have also reacted positively to the extra size availability (XS-3XL) and alterations that are available online. The digital factor The sheer density of the brand’s retail network in Singapore compared to other larger countries in Asia sets it apart from the other competitors in the marketplace. That’s why its O2O services are key. According to Tan, the pandemic really helped the brand to accelerate its adoption of the e-commerce channel. “After enjoying the convenience of online shopping, many of these new customers captured during the pandemic have stuck around, and turned into cross-channel customers instead, shopping across both our online and offline stores,” she noted. Accelerating the growth of their e-commerce store remains a priority for the brand, and its app has sampling and styling hints for customers to submit reviews on products and share their styling inspiration too. In the next six months, the brand will bring its overall store count to 29 with the opening of three new stores at Raffles City Singapore, Junction 8 and Sengkang Grand Mall. “Shoppers can look forward to in-store customisation services, embroidery, t-shirt printing and clothing repair, as well as the Uniqlo Flower that offers bespoke flower arrangement services at the Orchard Central Global Flagship store this month,” she concluded.