An integrated, experiential e-Commerce training facility allowing students to gain knowledge and skills in retail digitalisation

On Monday, 19 July 2021, Temasek Polytechnic (TP) launched a Smart e-Commerce Centre (SMEC) to equip students with the skills to meet the demands of borderless retail competition brought forth by the rapid growth of e-commerce. The SMEC also aims to help companies and aspiring entrepreneurs boost their digitalisation efforts through training and collaborations with the TP community and these partners. Ms Gan Siow Huang, Minister of State, Ministry of Education, officiated the launch of the SMEC at TP.

The SMEC, set up with support from SkillsFuture Singapore (SSG), is housed in TP’s School of Business. It provides an omni-channel learning environment, consisting of unmanned and online stores for students and budding entrepreneurs to acquire the necessary knowledge and skills in designing a seamless shopping experience for customers. Students across diploma programmes can utilise this e-commerce training facility, including students from the Diploma in Marketing, as well as the Diploma in Logistics and Operations Management. The SMEC will also provide training opportunities for individuals pursuing Continuing Education & Training (CET) courses in training areas such as E-Commerce Branding & Digital Marketing, Workplace Digital Literacy and Inventory Management.

The SMEC will feature two unmanned stores, 1stAvenue Omni and 1stAvenue Originals, which allow customers to purchase products using self-checkout stations. In addition, an online store, 1stAvenue Online, allows purchases to be made via desktops, smart phones or an onsite touch-screen monitor that is operational round the clock.

(Please refer to Appendix A for more details on 1stAvenue Omni, 1stAvenue Originals and 1stAvenue Online).

Mr Peter Lam, Principal & CEO, Temasek Polytechnic said: “SMEC is TP’s first integrated e-commerce learning facility to enable multi-disciplinary learning for students across diploma courses. SMEC will equip students with the skills and knowledge of technology-enabled marketing, branding, retailing and logistics. Our budding student and alumni entrepreneurs will also have an avenue to experiment with the latest e-commerce technologies to enhance customer experience. Through SMEC, we hope to imbue in all our students and alumni a digital-first mindset for the digital economy.”

Students, alumni and industry partners can look forward to the following:

i.                    An Incubator for Alumni Businesses

SMEC is an incubator for TP alumni to leverage the digital infrastructure to test their business concepts or products. Alumni-owned businesses at the SMEC include 6Style, Asmara, The Greyspace and Cobotic Labs. Veronica Tan, Founder of 6Style, said: “I am very excited as this Centre brings a fresh perspective to the retail shopping experience. New technologies like the introduction of the magic mirror into the unmanned store is an innovative concept to support the fashion industry and will help with manpower challenges. SMEC will definitely value-add to my whole startup learning experience, and I am honoured to be among the alumni businesses at the Centre!”

ii.                   A Centre for SMEs’ Digital Transformation

SMEC is also a platform for SMEs to tap on TP students’ creativity and innovation in problem-solving for specific industry/company issues through bite-size projects. Potential areas for collaboration include e-commerce strategies, order fulfilment, merchandise sourcing and implementation.

iii.                 Complementary Platforms for Business Digitalisation

With digitalisation permeating the business world and propelling its growth, TP School of Business has embarked on its own digital transformation since 2018. Besides the introduction of core digital business subjects to all students in the School of Business, the School also set up the Digital Business Transformation Centre (DBTC), which provides consultancy services to help companies with their digital business transformation journey. Over the years, DBTC has helped companies from various industries such as hospitality, financial services, construction, and food & beverage, realise their digital vision. Managed by staff and students, DBTC was also heavily involved in the development of 1st Avenue Online.

DBTC will complement the SMEC, and both centres will enhance TP’s role in supporting the digitalisation of omni-channel businesses as well as local brands with global footprints. Together, they are key digital pillars providing TP students with a multidisciplinary, integrated learning environment whilst helping companies to gain the digital confidence to propel them forward.