New opportunities arise as retail goes online
If you're looking to buy an engagement ring or a pair of wedding bands from bridal jewellery specialist brand Love & Co., you can browse online catalogues on its e-commerce website.
You can also book an online appointment via Zoom to speak to a customer service officer virtually, the group's assistant merchandising manager told The New Paper yesterday.
Ms Lee Jia Lin, 30, said: "To ensure customers get the best virtual experience, the photos have to be shot well, and customer service officers have to ensure they communicate clearly."
The SK Jewellery Group is an example of a retail company adapting to the effects of Covid-19.
The impact of the pandemic has forced many retailers to move operations online and use technologies like live-streaming and virtual reality to engage with customers, said Minister of Manpower Josephine Teo in her jobs report yesterday.
This shift has created new opportunities in both jobs and traineeships.
Ms Cheryl Tan, 24, a trainee at the home-grown jewellery retailer, graduated from Singapore Management University with a social sciences degree in January this year.
Since joining the SGUnited Traineeships Programme in June, she has helped manage marketing campaigns on e-commerce platforms for SK Jewellery.
"I help to come up with the concept of the campaign and execute it," Ms Tan said. "I also evaluate the effectiveness of the campaign by using data analytics."
As she did not have prior experience in e-commerce, she needed to pick up skills fast once given the opportunity to manage her own campaigns.
She had to learn the process of running a promotion and to manage the back end of the e-commerce sites.
Ms Tan was able to rely on her manager and colleagues from various departments to pick up the skills.
She said: "It was a bit of struggle at the start. But I feel that I am learning something new every single day.
"In some other companies, I would probably take six months to a year to do some of the things that I have already started doing now. I am grateful for this opportunity."
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