Singaporean shoppers are embracing mobile shopping: survey

5 in 10 say they regularly shop via mobile devices.

Singaporean shoppers are starting to embrace shopping through a mobile device, or mCommerce, according to Visa’s 2015 Consumer Payment Attitudes Survey.

5 out of 10 survey Singapore respondents said that they regularly shop via a mobile device, while 2 out of 10 say they preferred mCommerce over other online channels.

According to respondents, the categories that are seeing more and more purchases via mobile are movie tickets (35%), food deliver (32%) and fashion accessories (20%). Meanwhile, almost half of respondents stated that they began making purchases using their mobile devices only a year ago.

The survey also revealed that alongside the burgeoning popularity of eCommerce and mCommerce amongst Singapore shoppers is the growing preference for the use of payment cards overall rather than cash (76%). This is a marked increase in comparison to 2014, where almost 6 out of 10 (58%) respondents preferred payment cards over cash.

Moreover, almost half (49%) of respondents report having more payment cards in their wallet now, compared to five years ago.

Visa data also revealed that more Singaporean shoppers are buying online—20% more Visa cardholders are shopping online in November and December 2015, as compared to the same period in 2014.

Further, 7 in 10 (70%) stated they shop online at least once a month, compared to 59% in 2014. This puts Singapore a frontrunner in Southeast Asia in terms of online shopping uptake, well ahead of the 68% regional average.