Funan is to open Singapore’s first online-and-offline (O&O) shopping mall integrating online, offline, data and logistics, with the retail as well as its office components now slated to open in the second quarter of 2019.
This is ahead of the original plan to open in the third quarter of next year.
The opening of lyf Funan Singapore, a serviced residence component within Funan, managed by The Ascott, has also been brought forward from 2020 to the end of 2019.
Owned by CapitaLand Mall Trust and managed by CapitaLand Retail, Funan has celebrated its structural completion ahead of schedule. The topping out ceremony was held at Funan Showsuite and was officiated by Guest of Honour Heng Swee Keat, Singapore’s Minister for Finance. From groundbreaking to structural completion, Funan took about 19 months. To date, 72% of the overall construction has already been completed.
“Strong economic growth over the years has led to a large and fast-growing retail market in Asia,” said Wilson Tan, CEO of CapitaLand Retail. “A substantial proportion of Asian consumers are millennials with an experiential mindset that is highly receptive to retail innovation. Adding to the retail buzz in the region is the rise of a key emerging market, China, which has a booming middle class that is fuelling the expansion of shopping malls, and a tech-savvy population that is big on online shopping and mobile-based transactions.
CapitaLand, which has 70 malls in Singapore, China, Malaysia and Japan, has created its own e-commerce payment system called StarPay. The developer’s new Funan shopping mall in Singapore is its first ‘online-and-offline shopping mall’, with smart-car parking, a cinema, theatre, workshops and a 24-hour click-and-collect drive-through, with a robotic arm that collects parcels using a QR code.
“With the benefit of being a new development, Funan’s hardware and software has been wired differently, so that it is ready to plug into the phygital [physical plus digital] world of today’s consumers when it opens next year,” Tan said.
RPA Perspective Lee Chee Koon, President & Group CEO of CapitaLand Group, said: “To succeed in tomorrow’s economy, all players must find a way for the physical and digital realms to coexist. While the current market share of online sales is small, its pace of growth will only speed up as tomorrow’s consumers enter the market. Brick-and-mortar businesses must thus go beyond passively selling products and services, to generating quality retail experiences and emotional connections that are ‘on-brand’ with consumers.
“Against this backdrop, CapitaLand is committed to help our current and future tenants stay ahead of the curve. We have conceived Funan to embrace new opportunities, with a focus on gathering and building a young and vibrant community by integrating an experiential mall with dynamic coworking and coliving spaces. This starts with top quality building design and space planning, complemented by the right mix of tenants and partners who can breathe life into the building. A digital layer of tech-enabled customer experience further enriches Funan’s offerings.”
Lee added: “As Singapore’s largest mall owner and manager, CapitaLand knows that past success is no guarantee of future success. We are taking a close examination of our retail portfolio, in Singapore and abroad, to identify areas for reinvention. The location and catchment of Funan make it the ideal test bed for an O&O mall, where tomorrow’s consumers can shop, sweat, work, bond, live and play. Funan demonstrates CapitaLand’s commitment to reinvention, to always retain our market leadership. As ecommerce becomes a reality, CapitaLand will continue to ensure that the real estate we develop is conducive and complementary to tomorrow’s consumers and economy.”
