One-stop shopping complex Mustafa Centre, known for its extensive range of items, has launched its online site in response to customers’ requests.
Acknowledging that it is entering the online space later than its competitors, Mustafa said its focus is on ensuring the new service will be financially sustainable while learning from the lessons of other online retailers.
It will start by putting up a fraction of its overall offerings online and will not offer same-day delivery yet as it calibrates how to allocate its manpower.
Customers had been requesting an online site for years as they want convenience, Mustafa’s boss Mustaq Ahmad said.
“Many of them still want to buy from Mustafa, but they also want the option to shop from home, so we decided it’s time to make it happen and give them what they’ve been asking for.”
Besides serving regulars, Mr Mustaq said this will help Mustafa reach a new audience – those who have never visited and have yet to experience what the storied brand has to offer. It currently draws about 15,000 physical customers on average daily, with more on the weekends.
The 24-hour shopping centre on Syed Alwi Road has become a destination for locals and tourists alike, who pick up anything from gold and watches to snacks and souvenirs at all hours of the day.
It first opened its doors in 1971 in a shop on Campbell Lane, before gradually scaling up along Serangoon Road and in Serangoon Plaza, and opening at its current location in 1995.
Mustafa’s website, shopmustafa.sg, was launched on Oct 28. The orders currently come up to about S$200 each on average, said Mr Ronnie Faizal Tan, who heads overseas projects at Mustafa. He declined to disclose the number of orders.
The range of 3,000 products available online is currently a fraction of the 500,000 products that are sourced globally and sold at Mustafa’s six-storey physical retail space.
Besides daily essentials, groceries, and household items, the online range includes shoppers’ perennial favourites like perfumes and chocolates, as well as speciality products such as those by Indian dairy giant Amul and other international brands.
There are plans to add about a thousand new products each month.
Mr Mustaq said he decided in August to take the business online, given that the store already had some of the operational infrastructure and some 1,200 staff on its payroll that it could draw on.
In the early stages of this new service, around 10 staff – mainly cashiers now turned pickers and packers – have been assigned to online operations. They will gather customers’ orders from the shop’s six storeys, said Mr Tan.
The Straits Times
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14 Oct 2025 13:47
