How to deal with legacy weight in times of change? The question is one many retailers struggle with. All over the world even, as FairPrice‘s story at NRF 2024 in Singapore showed. From a 50-year-old political vehicle to a leading omnichannel retailer, discover the inspiring transition.
Historic mission, new ways
What started as a union initiative against rampant inflation and supply crisis in the 1970s is today a progressive retail group with more than 570 stores in Singapore. That many older customers in particular still call FairPrice’s supermarkets by their old name (NTUC Welcome after the National Trade Union Congress) does not stop top executive Vipul Chawla from moving with the times.
On the contrary, after 50 years, the core mission – keeping daily groceries accessible to all – is still unchanged, Chawla shared during the trade show NRF 2024: Retail’s Big Show Asia Pacific. Only the means do take ever new and more innovative forms… Fairprice has evolved from a physical supermarket concept to a company that “makes everything around food easy”, as the company’s slogan insists.
Full circle: from online to upmarket
Originally known as NTUC Welcome, the company was established in the 1970s by the National Trade Union Congress (NTUC). Over the past 50 years, FairPrice has evolved from a single supermarket chain into a multifaceted retail giant, adapting to the changing needs and preferences of its customers while staying true to its founding principles. “We now have an online business, a loyalty program, a home brand portfolio, and a food services business. Our focus has always been on making it easy for our customers, both on their wallets and their overall experience. This evolution includes the development of our app, which connects various enterprises and loyalty programs under the FairPrice brand”, says Chawla.
Integration is a key element of Fairprice’s strategy, as it turns out. To reflect “the evolving needs of its customers” the group today represents various formats, from hypermarkets to convenience stores and pharmacies. It even has a premium upmarket concept, called Fairprice Finest. Not too far a cry from its union workers’ roots? “When we introduced the Finest concept in the mid-2000s, there was some debate about whether we were becoming too upscale”, Chawla admits. However, 15 years later, it has become central to the lives of Singaporean customers.
