Daiso's higher prices are here to stay, but it will offer greater product variety
Japanese retail chain Daiso has no plans to revert to offering all its products at a flat price of $2, with its new outlet set to follow the 15-tiered pricing system implemented across all stores islandwide on May 1.
The retail store, which sells household and lifestyle items, will officially open at Jurong Point mall at 10am on Wednesday (May 25). Prices will range from $2.14 to $25.47.
The decision to raise prices was not an easy one to make, said director of Daiso Singapore Jun Tomioka at a press conference on Monday (May 23). The company had borne the brunt of inflation for a long time, but the increase in costs along supply chain operations left it with no choice.
"There has been a huge impact from the (Russia-Ukraine) war and Covid-19 - all of these have had a very detrimental impact on the retail market. The sea freight (costs) have gone up 200 per cent," he told The Straits Times.
"It has been getting difficult to absorb costs while maintaining a profitable business in the long run. It's not sustainable."
Despite the higher prices, Mr Tomioka said customers have reacted positively as Daiso has been widening its range of products.
"Because of the new interesting range, with most of it from Japan, more people have been coming to have a look," he added.
"(Now that we have increased prices), we are going to be coming up with a lot more interesting, creative and new products that the public has not seen before."
Daiso's new store in Jurong Point is its second concept store worldwide, with the first in Tokyo. The concept store houses three brands - Daiso, Standard Products and Threepy.
Having three brands under one roof improves the shopping experience for customers as there is a richer line-up of items, said Mr Tomioka.
Standard Products and Threepy adopt the same tiered pricing as Daiso, with 70 per cent of their items retailing at 300 yen or S$6.21.
With the launch of the concept store, there are 28 Daiso outlets, nine Threepy branches and one Standard Products store islandwide.
Daiso plans to open its next outlet at Nex mall in Serangoon next month and another in Ang Mo Kio by September.
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