SINGAPORE (June 15): In a bid to boost recovery in its China market, CapitaLand has tapped on its digital resources to establish a new normal.
The group’s residential and retail businesses in China has been bolstered partly by CapitaLand’s efforts to fast-track its digitalisation efforts through CapitaStar to tap the stay-home economy during the Middle Kingdom’s nationwide lockdown.
CapitaStar is CapitaLand’s lifestyle and loyalty app with over 10 million members in China, and over one million members in Singapore.
Some of the initiatives include the introduction of CapitaLand’s “Homes” feature on CapitaStar’s WeChat channel in mid-March, to allow house hunters in China to book their viewing appointments online.
The initiative saw over 2,700 viewing appointments booked through the feature by the end of May, and garnered sales of over 1,400 residential units worth about RMB4 billion (S$786.14 billion).
On the retail front, CapitaLand reduced platform fees on CapitaStar, with a simplified onboarding process for tenants as well.
So far, CapitaStar has onboarded over 1,100 retailers, with another 3,000 retailers in the pipeline. The initiative was introduced in February to allow CapitaLand’s mall tenants to achieve online sales within and beyond the city they are based in.
CapitaStar’s online selling experience also includes livestream sales that are increasingly popular in the country. To date, more than 50 livestream sales in partnership with over 100 retailers have taken place, attracting more than 400,000 viewers in total.
“Expanding the size and cultivating the vibrancy of this CapitaLand ecosystem is our next logical step. We are exploring to support cross-border sales of products and services via CapitaStar, for tenants at our retail, office, business park and industrial properties in Singapore and China,” says Lee Chee Koon, group CEO of CapitaLand.
“This unique network of B2C and B2B connections will enhance our value proposition as a holistic ecosystem provider beyond a traditional brick-and-mortar landlord,” Lee adds.
As at 3.45pm, shares in CapitaLand were changing hands 2% down, at $2.94.
