SINGAPORE: Neighbourhood merchants are expecting better business after it was announced on Tuesday that all Singaporean households will receive Community Development Council vouchers for use at participating heartland shops and hawker centres.
READ: 'We want them to know they're not alone': New scheme to distribute food vouchers to more than 12,000 disadvantaged studentsDirector of Optical Illusion Kwang Teck Kok said that although business has picked up since the start of Phase 1, it has not returned to pre-COVID-19 levels. Sales at the Serangoon optical shop fell by about 90 per cent during the"circuit breaker" period, he told CNA.
Mr Lim, who is an administrative executive with the bakery, said that he hopes the new tranche of vouchers would help them and would encourage more people to spend. The owner of the salon wanted to support lower-income households as they received vouchers in the previous two rounds, which is why the salon is not expecting anything from this tranche of vouchers, he said.
Heartland merchants will have to go beyond digitalisation to improve product offerings and shop layouts to compete in the long-term. For instance, provision shops could arrange their layouts to be more customer-friendly, said Assoc Prof Loh.