Megamalls with Imported and Mostly Western Items

The well-known focal point of shopping in Singapore is Orchard Road, a glitzy street that is said to be the shopping boulevard of Asia. It is an undisputed buzzword among tourists from all over the world. Malls are packed alongside one another, carrying mostly imported goods. A consumerist heaven, Orchard Road is full of imported designer labels and chic couture, as well as electronic goods, home furnishings, and a whole lot more. Relatively cheaper buys are also available, especially for apparel and accessories. Prices are comparable to those in the West.

You can get there via the Orchard and Somerset MRT stations. Walking is probably the best and most enjoyable way to explore Orchard Road, soaking in the atmosphere and hunting for the all the best deals along the way. Along with Orchard Road, Marina Bay and HarbourFront are the leading shopping clusters in Singapore.

Local Shopping Malls

Suburban malls have also caught the interest of foreign tourists. These have mushroomed all throughout the island, especially in housing estates such as Tiong Bahru, Bishan, Woodlands, and Boon Lay. All are likewise accessible via the MRT that runs both underground and above ground. These malls basically serve the needs of the residents. You can find relatively lower priced labels in these places, where jeans can start from S$20 and polo shirts from S$10. Practically all carry supermarkets, pharmacies, cosmetics stores, and health equipment shops.

Ethnic Districts

Tourists have found all sorts of interesting items on these streets.  Bargaining for prices can be at fever-pitch in these areas, since prices in practically all the department stores and boutiques are fixed. Gift and souvenir items abound in these places. In such ethnic districts as Little India, Chinatown, and Arab Street, you can find interesting handicrafts, textiles, and jewelry.

Singapore Airport Duty-Free Shopping

Changi Airport Shopping City is one of the world’s best duty-free shopping areas. The first Mercedes-Benz boutique in Asia Pacific offers a wide selection of exclusive gifts items such as model cars, toys, golf, and lifestyle accessories. Other Singapore airport duty-free stores include Biotherm, M.A.C., Bobbi Brown’s first flagship airport store in Asia Pacific, Origins, Bijoux Terner, Mont Blanc, Swizzle Delicatessen, electronics and IT stores, and liquor and cigarette stores, among others.

Sale Season and Trade Shows

For dyed-in-the-wool shopaholics, Singapore offers the mid-year Great Singapore Sale. June is the time when the whole island goes at discount of up to 70%. Lasting for about a month, this is the period when all major shopping centers and boutiques mark down their prices. Those who have experienced some of these mid-year sales attest that the beginning of the Great Singapore Sale is the perfect time for the greatest buys.

During the much-anticipated yearly island-wide sale, an extensive array of items ranging from fashion to jewelry and electronics are put on bargain discounts. Private events hosted by Sotheby’s and Glerums & Bonhams are mounted for exclusive works of art and jewelry. There is even the Great Singapore Shopping Challenge where the ultimate bargain-hunters are crowned.

COMEX, SITEX, The PC Show, and The IT Show are some trade shows and exhibits where the latest in electronic gadgets and IT products are displayed and offered at best deals. There is usually a show of this kind every quarter of the year.

Goods and Services Tax

The Goods and Services Tax (GST) in Singapore has been raised to 7% since start of July 2007. This tax on consumption is levied on import of goods, and nearly all supplies of goods and services. Sales and leases of residential properties and most financial services are the only exemptions to the GST. On the other hand, export of goods and international services are zero-rated.

Shopping travelers, however, can have their GST refunded if they spend at least S$100 at any single shop that displays the Premier Tax Free Logo. You can ask these shops to provide you with a shopping cheque that you can encash at the Global Refund Counters at Changi Airport on your departure from the country. These cheques may also be sent by mail or refunded to your credit card.

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Via ASIAWEB

Singapore is known as shopping country. The government has poured huge funds for developing areas where people can have fun spending their money. Millions of tourists that visit Singapore flock to the country’s shops and stores. Many have found their way to the ethnic enclaves where bargaining for prices is the rule of thumb. The island has more than ten major shopping districts and over 250 shopping malls.

Gigantic one-stop shopping centers are the places to go when you have to buy several things at one shopping location. Centrepoint, Far East Plaza, and Ngee Ann City are just a few examples of these megamalls in Singapore that have hundreds of retail shops under one roof, and selling practically everything. For some of these giant shopping establishments, it will take you more than a day to visit all the shops.

A fairly recent phenomenon in the Singapore shopping scene is the rise of warehouse retail outlets in the suburbs that can give serious competition to malls. These are predicted to become bigger magnets for serious shoppers. Boasting of lowest possible factory rates and widest selection of items, these warehouse stores attract specific markets with particular needs.

However, malls retain the advantage of having everything under one roof, including cineplexes. Warehouse retail operators cannot sublet their space to other operators such as restaurants or cinema operators. At the moment, malls still remain as the place for the most fun, comfort, and convenience in shopping.

You, the shopping tourist, can compare prices among the many haute couture boutiques that dot the island, or skillfully bargain for the best prices on art and handicrafts along narrower streets. You may pound the malls, and there are plenty, as well as horde unusual trinkets that you are sure to find in quaint enclaves. You can order furniture that you can assemble yourself, even get bags of spices and pick up traditional Chinese medicine. A cosmopolitan metropolis such as Singapore, with its mixture of cultural and commercial influences, has one of the most expansive arrays of shopping delights that can surely satisfy even the biggest shopping appetite.

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Via Smart Travel Asia

The purpose of advertising is to convince people that products are useful to them in terms of function, comfort, convenience, status, self-esteem, etc. Advertising is the showcase by which to tell the markets of these benefits that they can have from using the particular products. Advertising becomes successful when people agree with what they see and hear, and then decide to buy the products shown.

The nature of advertising is that it must do its job very quickly. There is in advertising the elements of first glance, first impression, and first recall. All these have to be achieved within the very short time span that advertising conquers the minds of audiences and markets. Advertising does not have the leisure of going into detailed explanation.

The quickest way to communicate is to appeal to a basic human instinct. Sexually oriented advertising addresses this communication strategy. In almost all products, there is a huge possibility to make a sexual connection.

This is how sex appeal advertising should be regarded – within the context of marketing communications. If audiences see it as such, the ethical debate will most likely wane. If companies and advertisers see it that way, too, they would be more responsible as to keep this kind of advertising well within the purview of their product’s target markets.

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Via cyberpat

There are indicators of socioeconomic well-being, and all these are materially measured. They may all contribute positively to a person’s comfort, convenience, mobility, freedom, and further opportunity in life. On the other hand, these material manifestations are not distributed equally in society. That is why if these provide advantage to one person who has more of them, they may also prove to be disadvantage to someone who has less of them. These measures of socioeconomic well-being are also the benchmarks of inequality in this world.

Income is the opportunity for consumption, and is usually measured in monetary terms since consumption comes at a material cost in what is called consumerism. As a measure of socioeconomic well-being, income’s strength is its beneficial effect on the owner of the income, endowing him with a certain comfortable level of standard of living.

The weakness of income lies in the convenience it gives its owner. Someone with higher income or consistent income not only gets used to his living standards but will aspire for even higher standards. In the process, he will do what it takes to earn more so that he can spend more and consume more.

In the end, income affects a person’s level of contentment. But resources are finite in this world. Someone with more income will hoard more of those limited resources, tipping the balance against those who may not have the income to avail themselves of those resources – but have the same need. Food is a pertinent example that is proportionate to income. While everybody needs nutrition, those who cannot afford to buy more nutritious food end up with poorer health.

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Via LIFE-WALKER

A disease of the spine being confined to the aged is a word of yester years. Most of us tend to spend the major part of our day working, sitting at an improper desk that gives us a bad back irrespective of what one’s age is. There are many ergonomic desks coming up to make our working environments compatible and comfortable for the spine. The new Gravitonus iClubby, that was shown off at CES was probably designed for gamers alone, but it looks promising for the desk-workers too!

iClubby comprises an absolutely ergonomic seating position with a Matrox triple-header three-screen monitor and a powerful 5.1 surround sound system to complement it. Adjustable air temperature and ambient lighting conditions create the most likeable personal working environment. You’ll probably never get tired of working for long hours on this! A cost of $7000 for a working desk might sound just too much, but ain’t it worth the comfort it’s giving you and the most important of all, it will keep the dreaded back problems away.

I agree with the fact that productivity does depend on how contented you are with your workplace and I believe iClubby would surely give you not just an ideal workstation but also an idyllic relax-station!

Source: Gizmag

If you are someone like me who does everything from work to lunch to relaxing on a couch, then check this out! Trio Sofa seems to be the perfect piece of furniture you would want. Young and talented Julia Hamid designed this sofa with three hidden tables.

Carved out of black American walnut veneered panels, the tables have an easy to reach finger pull slot on their side edge. The support cushions can be moved to different positions depending on the way you feel like sitting. You can turn the tables into your worktop or coffee table or kitchen table when you need it, or else just hide them and lie down.

Trio Sofa presents a perfect mixture of style, comfort and function. Isn’t it look inviting? This must be a feast for couch potatoes!

Source: Julia Hamid