Hive by Stellar Lifestyle to help SMEs with practical, go-to-market implementation solutions covering new consumer technologies and training studios, complemented with novel pop-up stores

1. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can now have ease of access to practical, go-to- market solutions with the launch of “Hive by Stellar Lifestyle”, a new innovation space conveniently located at Esplanade MRT Station in the heart of the Marina Bay Area. Officially unveiled today by Mr Gan Kim Yong, Minister for Trade and Industry, “Hive by Stellar Lifestyle” is the latest initiative by Singapore’s largest transit retail operator to develop a robust, innovative and digital ecosystem for SMEs.
2. As the business arm of SMRT, Stellar Lifestyle manages most of the transit retail spaces within the MRT network. With SMEs forming the majority of retailers, “Hive by Stellar Lifestyle” aims to help them digitalise, innovate, and grow systematically and sustainably.
3. “Hive by Stellar Lifestyle” will feature key brands such as StarHub and TikTok for a start. As part of its living lab concept, the space will be refreshed regularly to welcome other like-minded partners that support SMEs, complemented with a robust calendar of events and workshops.
4. Said Mr Seah Moon Ming, Chairman of SMRT Corporation Ltd, “Through ‘Hive by Stellar Lifestyle’, we want to create a platform for our partners to collaborate and build trusted partnerships among themselves. We want our SMEs to keep growing by helping them to accelerate their connections with customers, and ultimately succeed in Singapore and beyond.”
5. “Even as more people gradually return to work and engage in face-to-face social interactions, retailers and F&B operators must adapt to the new realities of higher operational costs, greater competition, and continued manpower shortages. ‘Hive by Stellar Lifestyle’ will support SMEs by introducing and validating new innovations that can help them become more operationally resilient while creating new in-store experiences to entice more customers,” added Mr Tony Heng, President of Stellar Lifestyle.
6. “Hive by Stellar Lifestyle” will start by offering services to SMEs covering content creation, product testing and validation, and fulfilment models:
   1. A digital studio for merchants and retailers to create social media content to attract and maintain customer engagement. For a start, social media giant TikTok will be helping tenants and merchants to create new content and on-boarding their products on TikTok shop.
   2. A demo kitchen, supported by F&B accelerator partner, Incubaker, to nurture local F&B entrepreneurs and help them get a head start developing new dining experiences for food connoisseurs.
   3. A distribution service point operated by start-up partner Pickupp, for all last-mile delivery needs within the train stations.
7. For commuters, they can look forward to salads and smoothies from Blooom, a concept by Singrow, a local urban farming specialist with innovative agri-technology solutions for producing premium-quality fruits and vegetables.
8. Stellar Lifestyle also has plans for the space to serve as a testbed for new concepts such as retail automation and nano fulfilment within retail spaces. This includes an Infocomm Media Development Authority (IMDA) supported Robotics Middleware Framework (RMF) that will interlock with last mile robotics delivery, to address common interoperability gaps between robotic fleets and building infrastructure such as lifts and gantries.
9. “We are excited to partner Stellar Lifestyle to provide support in making last mile robotics delivery more accessible to our local retail SMEs, and we look forward to working closely with technology partners to deliver innovative robotic solutions,” added Mr Leong Der Yao, Assistant Chief Executive of Sectoral Transformation Group, IMDA
10. “Hive by Stellar Lifestyle” will be the first of many innovation spaces that Stellar Lifestyle hopes to introduce across the MRT network over the next few years. Stellar Lifestyle is looking for innovative partners to:
    • Increase operational efficiency and lower overall cost of operations through offline-to- online digital transformation
    • Improve customer stickiness by providing pertinent data analytics tools to help tenants better understand their customers better
    • Create new compelling in-store experiences for commuters within the train stations
    • Formulate environmentally sustainable solutions for tenants and merchants to achieve carbon neutrality
      

About Stellar Lifestyle

Stellar Lifestyle, a business arm of SMRT Corporation Limited, has expertise in property and retail management, media, and digital advertising solutions. We create vibrant transit destinations and lifestyle experiences to make our everyday touchpoints better. Our growing portfolio includes mall management and outdoor media & digital engagement platforms. We are also the largest managing agent of retail and advertising spaces in Singapore’s rail network.