\n<\/p>\n
Businesses participating in the study said the RTS Link would sharpen competition from Johor Bahru, particularly in price-sensitive segments such as groceries, pharmaceuticals and beauty services, where lower cross-border prices are already shaping consumer spending patterns.<\/p>\n
Non-central areas of Singapore are expected to see the largest net outflow in spending, the study found. The west region is projected to see a S$104 million net outflow, followed by the north-east with S$103 million, the north with S$82 million and the east with S$25 million.<\/p>\n
This outflow is likely to stem from outbound spend on essentials such as groceries and drug stores, as well as dining at restaurants and cafes, the study said.<\/p>\n
Competing on price alone will not be viable, the businesses said. Service quality, unique customer experiences and locally distinctive offerings were seen as the strongest ways to differentiate their products and services.<\/p>\n
The study also found that central areas are expected to capture the “lion’s share” of inbound spend, with an estimated S$25 million increase driven by higher-end retail, entertainment, hotel and dining.<\/p>\n
However, the businesses flagged persistent manpower, compliance and cost pressures limiting their ability to innovate and scale.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Small- and medium-size enterprises (SMEs) were particularly concerned about adapting as quickly as larger operators, and called for more support to strengthen competitiveness and capture new opportunities from increased cross-border flows, the study found.<\/p>\n
Despite the imbalance in outbound spending, Johor Bahru visitors expressed more interest in visiting Singapore for premium retail, entertainment and major lifestyle events.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The study found 34 per cent of respondents from Johor Bahru intended to visit Singapore for events after the RTS Link launches, up from 24 per cent currently.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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PRICE COMPETITION A KEY WORRY Businesses participating in the study said the RTS Link would sharpen competition from Johor Bahru, particularly in price-sensitive segments such…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":69113,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/dam.mediacorp.sg\/image\/upload\/s--knn9IPuT--\/c_fill,g_auto,h_676,w_1200\/fl_relative,g_south_east,l_mediacorp:cna:watermark:2021-08:cna,w_0.1\/f_auto,q_auto\/v1\/mediacorp\/cna\/image\/2025\/08\/06\/rts2_6.jpg?itok=gcA_a9Ou","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[1242,6585,3633,718,7427,1814,22,992,4118,791],"class_list":["post-69112","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-buzz-news-sg-global","tag-billion","tag-link","tag-opens","tag-residents","tag-rts","tag-set","tag-singapore","tag-spend","tag-study","tag-year","wpcat-2-id"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69112","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=69112"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/69112\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/69113"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=69112"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=69112"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sgbuzz.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=69112"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}