Jewel Changi Airport straight up looks like it came out of a futuristic sci-fi movie.

Not only does it have the world-famous gigantic waterfall aka HSBC Rain Vortex that some would even call the main highlight of the place. But it also hosts popular stores such as Pokemon Centre, Burgers & Lobsters, Birds of Paradise and A&W.

Not forgetting a multitude of attractions such as the Shiseido Forest Valley, Canopy Park, Mirror Maze, Topiary Walks and Sky Nets, among others.

This should all translate to massive crowds and good business, right? I mean what could go wrong?

Retail Outlets At Jewel Changi Not Doing Well Despite High Human Traffic

Apparently quite a few things can go wrong.

It has been nine months since Jewel Changi Airport opened its doors with more than 280 shops and food and beverage outlets.

Despite the massive crowds, stores have revealed that business has been slow.

According to The Straits Times, sales staff have admitted that meeting sales targets has been tough.

However, stores that offer unique concepts are doing better than other stores which have multiple outlets in other more accessible parts of Singapore.

A fashion store on the basement level of the mall revealed that they had not been meeting sales target for the past three months.

One of the managers at the store said, “Though business picked up in December because of the school holidays, sales are still not that great. Many people come here to eat and look at the waterfall rather than actually shop.”

The fashion store’s other outlets, one of which is located at Orchard Road is said to perform three times better than the store at Jewel.

The same can be said for some of the other stores at Jewel. Their respective Orchard outlets performed at least 50% better than the stores in Jewel.

More Customers Explore Retail Outlets On Level One & Two Instead Of Basement Level

It was also revealed that foot traffic is generally lower at the basement level compared to level one and two of the mall.

The probable reason is that Jewel is so big and has so many attractions that visitors tend to explore the attractions rather than explore the stores. This, however, has not been confirmed.

A staff working at Irvins, the ever famous Salted Egg Snack Store also revealed that the bulk of their customers are from China, Indonesia and Thailand instead of from Singapore.

As a result, sales visibly drop when it isn’t their holiday period which inevitably affects sales.