Watsons wins Health & Beauty Retailer of the Year - Singapore Award for the 2nd consecutive year

Their synergistic approach, intertwining their online and offline initiatives, has set them apart from their competition.

Retailing is no mean feat. Competition is fierce. It requires constant evolution to remain relevant to customers. The pandemic added another set of challenges including reduced footfall, supply chain disruptions and inflationary pressures. Despite the odds, Watsons Singapore managed to thrive amidst the chaos, and in doing so was again awarded the Health & Beauty Retailer of the Year - Singapore Award at the Retail Asia Awards for the 2nd consecutive year in 2022.

The awards programme recognises major breakthroughs, innovations, and key players in the retail industry of Asia. Watsons’ status as the top in brand equity, thanks to their synergistic approach that involves the successful intertwining of online and offline initiatives, sets them apart from their competition.

Embracing retail technologies and the constant focus on creating a more seamless journey has increased customer value, supported by a strong loyalty programme and big data analytics. Other factors that helped aided their win are strong brand strategy, both in their own brand and exclusive brands, sustainability, and strength in human resource development.

As the pandemic and lockdowns accelerated the adoption and expansion of eCommerce channel usage by customers, a quickfire way for Watsons to increase omnichannel capabilities and customer base was to expand its presence in large online marketplaces such as Lazada and Shopee. Customers growing appreciation for convenience saw Watsons also quickly expanding its quick commerce partnerships with GrabMart and Panda Shop, and including a strategic partnership with Amazon Singapore to offer deliveries of an entire Watsons store of products in under 2 hours.

Embracing sustainability principles into doing business, they were the first health and beauty retailer to lead a bring-your-own-bag initiative alongside their other commendable ones such as plastic recycling and refillery stations. Aside from that, its own brand products have committed to stop the use of PVCs by 2030, to use a minimum of 20% recycled plastic content in plastic packaging and promote and encourage the use of packaging that is more recyclable or reusable and has less of it overall.

The 17th Retail Asia Awards is presented by Retail Asia. To view the full list of winners, click here. If you want to join the 2023 awards programme and be acclaimed for your company's outstanding retail initiatives, please contact Jane Patiag at [email protected].