One of the things that will strike you on your face is the great number of 7-11 convenience stores all around the City of Angel.
Every street, every soi, every building, every corner you turn, you will find at least a 7-11 store. There are everywhere - in office buildings, petrol kiosks, shop houses, hotels, and even condos.
Apart from selling convenience food items like drinks, bread, ice creams, snacks, cup noodles, prepacked food, prepaid cards, they also sell medicines, books, cooking oil, seasonings, toiletries, washing powders, deodorants, toilet papers, tissues and the list goes on. In fact, you can get most of your daily necessities there without having to visit a supermarket.
What's more, many of the things sold at 7-11 are sold at same prices as supermarkets. Those that are more expensive are only about a few baths more. Well, after all, you are paying for convenience and things are more expensive if you buy them individually rather than in bulk at supermarkets.
Because of the convenience of finding a 7-11 store and the reasonable pricing, these stores are often very crowded most of the times. It is actually an enjoyable experience just visiting one to see what do they have on offer. This has becomes one of my favourite activity whenever I have a few minutes to spare.
Well, Singapore has 7-11 stores as well, except that I seldom step into one to buy unless it becomes a matter of life or death. The only other time that I'll get something from there is when I know that the price is exactly the same sold somewhere else, like newspapers or bread.
If you're a first time visitor to Singapore, unless your country do not have 7-11 store or you have no idea how much the same things cost at other places, you'll be shocked at how expensive things are sold in 7-11 here.
A bottled mineral water can costs up to 4 times more than what the supermarkets are selling. All other things are marked up almost 75% and above. A Thai friend came to Singapore and he was forewarned not to buy things from 7-11. He came, walked in and walked out, totally unbelievable how expensive the things are.
Take a look at the 7-11 stores here. They are empty most of the times.
Perhaps the management thinks that since it's open 24 hours to provide convenience to people, it's justifiable for them to charge sky high prices. All in the name of convenience. And with the limited number of items sold, people could have easily get all they want at the supermarket with a bigger range of products to choose from. Everybody knows that 7-11 is expensive and that is how we see the store.
And what is the end result? I've seen so many 7-11 stores opened only to close down after a few months.
Same convenience, different interpretation, different positioning, different consequence.