In a bid to boost its omnichannel strategy, CapitaLand forged alliances with two leading e-commerce players in Asia. For one, CapitaLand has inked an agreement with Southeast Asia's largest e-commerce platform Lazada Group to unveil an exclusive online mall on Lazada Singapore.
This positions CapitaLand as Singapore's first omnichannel retail landlord that connects its retailers to consumers offline and online.
CapitaLand CEO Lim Ming Yan said in a statement this is part of the group's partnership with digital players to create seamless offline to online experience consumers are seeking.
"Even as new technologies disrupt traditional business models, real estate remains an important part of a holistic customer journey, as affirmed by leading digital players who are seeking to gain a foothold in the physical space," he stated.
Lim furthered, "We will continue to work with our business partners and forge new strategic alliances to future-enable our properties and support our retailers in embracing an omnichannel business model that meets the needs of consumers."
This comes with Singapore's vision to be a Smart Nation. The group will launch a shop-in-shop aggregating the offerings of retailers in its Singapore malls on Lazada.SG by the end of this year. Consumers will be able to collect their purchases in CapitaLand malls.
At the onset, CapitaLand will launch two unmanned click-and-collect lounges at Plaza Singapura and Bugis+ for shoppers to collect and return their parcels.
Commenting on the partnership, Lazada Singapore CEO Alexis Lanternier said, "Lazada entered Singapore just three years ago and today the country is one of our fastest-growing markets in Southeast Asia. Our collaboration with CapitaLand offers shoppers in Singapore the ease of accessing their favourite shops online and enjoying an integrated shopping experience."
Meanwhile, CapitaLand also signed a partnership agreement to manage Alibaba Shanghai Center in China.
Under this deal with Alibaba, the group will oversee the pre-opening and management of the shopping space and one of the four office towers in Alibaba Shanghai Center.
CapitaLand Mall Asia CEO Jason Leow noted that this is part of the group's advocacy of retail innovation.
"We champion the reinvention of retail space to keep abreast of changing consumer habits. For example, we are taking the opportunity of redeveloping Funan in Singapore to leapfrog into the future and envision how a shopping mall of the future will look like," Leow said.
