You go granny! More SG seniors turn to online shopping

Approximately 30% of Singapore seniors now prefer to shop online.

Singapore seniors are taking a shine to online shopping and digital payments, according to Visa’s Digital Inclusion Research 2021.

Travel restrictions have encouraged one in three seniors (36%) to try online shopping, much higher than the one in four (25%) recorded in 2018. Moreover, nearly one-third (30%) of Singapore seniors expressed a preference for online shopping over visiting physical stores.

“Whilst many seniors in Singapore are now aware and use digital payments, there is still further opportunity to change the behaviour of those who have not embarked on this journey. Therefore, we recognise the importance of educating our seniors so that they too can benefit from seamless and secure digital payment experiences,” said Visa country manager for Singapore and Brunei, Kunal Chatterjee.

The top three online purchases of Singaporean seniors are clothing (69%), food and groceries (68%), and household and cleaning products (63%).

Top reasons for e-commerce use include convenience (79%), ease of use (64%), and the ability to shop from home (63%).

Contactless card payment is king when it comes to digital payment methods preferred by these elderly lions, at a whopping 90% preference. Following far behind are QR code payments (67%) and mobile contactless payments (56%). This is due to it being the more familiar payment method used by over two-thirds of seniors.

When the pandemic ends, 50% of seniors intend to continue using digital payment methods.

Awareness of mobile banking also grew amongst seniors in 2021, to 55% from the 31% recorded three years ago. Ease of use is cited as the primary reason why seniors use mobile banking apps. The most used features of mobile banking apps are account balance checking, transaction checking, and money transfer.

Whilst 66% of Singapore seniors still plan to visit physical banks in the future, more than half, at 51%, are open to moving a few or some services to digital banks.