The Consultant - Q1 2009 - (Page 19) asia-pacif ic INTERNATIONAL MARKET PERSPECTIVES asked to describe the consumer’s c u r re nt at t it ude is “t rad i ng down.” For example, on the wine front, the festive season has seen many wine distributors off-loading top Bordeaux wines from their storage, with up to 40% discount. Indeed, one wine merchant was offering a Roederer Brut Premier NV at S$55, when the normal retail price was S$90. “Customers are still buying, but the value they spend is different,” explains Kelvin Tan, a wine merchant who deals mainly in Western Australian wines and is the second generation in the family business. He predicts, “It’s going to get worse next year.” The Wine Cellar, a mid-priced retail shop, hasn't yet seen a drop in wine sales. Consumers may be consoling themselves with a glass of wine, though it may not be a high end one. house pours starting at RM99 (about US$28 or €20). Response, he says, has been encouraging, and like Teng, he is working on promoting his restaurant. He wants to spread the word that they have the best value Angus tenderloin in their category and the best value house pour wine. While “cost-saving” is the new religion for restaurants across the board, few have released staff and most are keeping a full complement, choosing instead to focus on costsaving measures such as maximizing utilities and energy savings. In Singapore, the government’s message has been to first cut salaries and bonuses instead of firing staff. The new SPUR (Skills Programme for Upgrading & Resilience for Employers), which was quickly rolled out by WDA (Singapore Workforce Development Agency), allows companies to send their workers to more than 150 courses and a full range of skills upgrading programs. At the same time, the S$6 million (about €3 million or US$4 million) investment by the government in SPUR will help companies save manpower costs, which will, in turn, save jobs. Companies enjoy subsidies on course fees and enjoy compensation from government for the worker’s absence, otherwise known as ‘absentee payroll’. One term often mentioned, when First Quarter 2009 19
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.