A new publication from yStats.com, Germany-based provider of global E-Commerce intelligence, focuses on the online retail market in Singapore. In the report titled “Singapore B2C E-Commerce Market 2017” the secondary market research company summarizes key market trends, statistics and predictions and concludes that Singapore’s online retail market is the most advanced of all Southeast Asia, but still is expected to experience double-digit growth for the next several years.
Singapore is one of the smallest countries in the region in terms of population, but had the third largest B2C E-Commerce market in 2016 due to a well-developed infrastructure, high rates of Internet connectivity and affinity of consumers to online shopping. More than three-quarters of individuals in this country have Internet access and Internet connection speed is the highest among the five major Southeast Asian countries, according to the findings in yStats.com’s report. A high double-digit share of adult Internet users made purchases online in 2016, driven by factors such as lower prices compared to offline stores and the ability to access items not available in Singapore from Internet merchants abroad.
A high share of cross-border imports is an important characteristic of Singaporean E-Commerce market. More than 50% of online shoppers made purchases from abroad, with cross-border E-Commerce platforms in China and the USA such as Alibaba and Amazon being the main destinations, according to statistics cited in this report by yStats.com. Another important market trend is the growth of M-Commerce, spurred by wide access to mobile Internet technology which accounts for nearly all mobile phone connections in the country.
Whether Singaporean online shoppers buy from local or foreign online merchants, fashion items are the most demanded product category. Among the products with the fastest predicted growth rate in 2017 are household goods and groceries. Online shoppers with a high monthly income were especially likely to shop for groceries online, as yStats.com’s report reveals. The country’s major E-Commerce competitors took notice of this trend, with online retailer and marketplace operator Lazada acquiring online grocer RedMart in 2016.
Overall, the B2C E-Commerce market in Singapore is the most advanced of the top five Southeast Asian nations, as signaled by the highest online share of total retail sales. Nevertheless, the market is far from reaching its full potential, with double-digit growth rates predicted through 2025.
