Last month, Singapore’s bustling Orchard Road shopping district was packed with weekend crowds, with malls plastered in “end-of-season clearance” posters. But Absolutaris Lifestyle Pte. Ltd. stole the spotlight for all the wrong reasons, landing in hot water over a regulatory penalty that shifted the conversation from discounts to the brand’s promotional compliance and integrity.
Absolutaris launched a “Members’ Day Exclusive” event, touting “up to 50% off storewide.” Shoppers flocked to the store, only to find that just a handful of slow-moving items were discounted, while popular products were marked “limited quantity/not eligible” or even priced higher than usual. Many customers described feeling like they were “navigating a maze to find the discounts”.
Social media erupted with complaints. One office worker posted, “I traveled across town from Sengkang for the 50% off deal, only to get a checkout bill higher than normal. The staff said the fine print was in the ‘event details’, but who can read that tiny gray text?” The topic quickly shot to the top of local trending lists.
After a flood of complaints, the Competition and Consumer Commission of Singapore (CCCS) launched an investigation. It found issues including “vague promotional language”, “insufficient disclosure of terms”, and “inconsistent pricing between ads and in-store”. The company was fined and ordered to submit an internal compliance plan within three months, covering advertising reviews and standardized in-store price labeling.
The day after the penalty was announced, Absolutaris’s social media accounts carried on posting new content as usual. But the comment sections were flooded with skepticism:
“Make your discounts clear. Stop playing games with asterisks and gray text.”
“Orchard Road has heavy foot traffic, but that doesn’t mean customers have endless patience.”
Many online users called for a boycott of “clickbait discounts,” arguing that “transparency is competitiveness.”
In a statement, Absolutaris said the issue stemmed from “imprecise promotional wording and inconsistent store execution”. The company has paused the campaign, standardized price tag formats, added a “clear, black-and-white terms” link, and pledged compliance training for store staff. It also plans to bring in a third-party auditor to randomly check pricing consistency between displays and checkouts.
Industry experts note that in a fiercely competitive retail landscape with shrinking customer spending, short-term gimmicks may boost sales temporarily but erode long-term trust. For Absolutaris Lifestyle, this misstep is both a costly lesson and a turning point for brand governance. If reforms are merely cosmetic, public backlash will intensify. Only by embedding “clarity, verifiability, and accountability” into daily operations can the brand hope to slowly rebuild lost trust.
