By LazBeat Staff, with additional reporting by Catherine Yang
Dec. 16, 2021
It’s a bright December day in Singapore, and the main shopping precinct of Orchard Road is aglow with the holiday spirit. This year, as part of the Orchard Road Business Association’s Christmas on A Great Street campaign, an all-new shopping experience is using digital technology to connect brands and consumers for real-life festive fun. Bathed in the warm and welcoming scents of renowned aromatherapy brands such as Pristine Aroma, the Lazada Pop-Up Showcase gives shoppers a chance to literally step into the world of LazMall and LazMall Prestige with in-person showrooms that display exclusive products from more than two dozen brands.
“We talked to different brands to get them to participate in this pop-up store. With their support, we managed to bring this to life and to see this wonderful pop-up with all these products,” said Josephine Wong, the manager of LazMall’s channels and experience.
The pop-up is split across two showrooms that run until January 2. At the LazMall showroom, guests can peruse items from popular brands such as Casio, Garmin, Lego, Metro, Muji, Playline Friends, Pristine Aroma, Rebecca Minkoff, Restrosuperfuture and WMF. During the campaign’s launch on December 1, shoppers were also treated to a preview of the Lazada-exclusive Dick Bruna x LeSportsac collection featuring beloved characters Miffy and Black Bear.
“The Lazada Pop-Up Showcase was the perfect opportunity to debut our Winter 2021 Dick Bruna Collection,” said Kien Koh, LeSportsac’s head of marketing and public relations for Singapore. “After months of connecting with our customers mostly online, it’s great to see the smiles on shoppers’ faces when they see our products in person.”
Meanwhile, at the showroom for LazMall Prestige, Lazada’s channel for premium labels, shoppers can browse through a carefully curated selection of products from the likes of Bacha Coffee, Bang & Olufsen, Estée Lauder, Furla, HERA, Lancôme, Longines, Michael Kors, Moët Hennessy, Sulwahsoo and Vertu.
Aside from the impressive line-up of brands, what sets the pop-up apart from traditional brick-and-mortar stores is the fact that it’s integrated within Lazada’s eCommerce ecosystem, using the platform’s technology to make holiday shopping even more fun and convenient. For example, instead of waiting in line for the cashier and then lugging their heavy purchases home, shoppers can simply scan a QR code next to any product to buy it online via the Lazada app and have it delivered directly to their doorsteps.
The showcase is the latest effort from Lazada to pioneer online-to-offline – also known as O2O – retail experiences across Southeast Asia. In April, the eCommerce giant unveiled Come Home to Lazada, a furniture and homeware pop-up concept at Singapore’s Raffles City Shopping Mall that brought together the joys of in-person shopping and the conveniences of online retail. The platform has also done a similar O2O pop-up at Thailand’s Siam Center shopping mall.
“After the amazing success of the pop-up event at Raffles City Shopping Mall earlier this year, we wanted to celebrate the expansion of LazMall Prestige, our premium product channel, on LazMall. And as the official eCommerce partner of the Orchard Road Business Association, there is no better way to connect with shoppers than in the heart of Orchard Road with an online-to-offline engagement,” said Lazada Singapore Chief Operating Officer Carey Chong.
Indeed, while eCommerce soared in popularity as a safe and even essential way to shop during lockdowns and other health and safety measures during the height of the pandemic, as more countries slowly open up and looked ahead to a new normal, O2O experiences offer an immersive way for brands and businesses to reach and connect with consumers.
“We are delighted to be part of this pop-up showcase. As the retail landscape continues to evolve, we are excited to partner with Lazada to explore more innovative ways to engage with our consumers both online and offline,” said Belinda Kwai, the global marketing manager of Bacha Coffee.
Being so much more than a point of purchase, the Orchard Road pop-up also features fun activations, such as an Instagram-worthy photo wall with Lazada’s heart-shaped logo, gift-wrapping workshops as well as a mystery-gift vending machine where shoppers can buy miniature products from top-tier brands for just SGD2 apiece. Lazada app users can also take advantage of a “Deals Nearby” function, which shows a list of participating F&B outlets in the area where they can enjoy discounts at in between their holiday shopping.
“We wanted to create something that could spread joy in Singapore this festive season,” explained Paige Lee, the strategic partnerships manager of Lazada Singapore. “With this pop-up, we hope that shoppers can find the perfect gifts for their loved ones and enjoy the holidays together.”