4 out of 5 Singaporeans prefer shopping for int’l products online

This is driven by better prices and access to items not found in Singapore.

Cross-border shopping remains a defining feature of Singapore’s e-commerce market as 80% of online consumers purchase international goods online.

According to a recent study released by PayPal, this is largely driven by lower prices and greater access to products.

With offline retail businesses gravely affected by the pandemic, shoppers have flocked online to access international products whilst local companies race to bring their offerings online.

E-commerce platforms in Singapore experienced 23% growth in total web visits during the first six months of 2020. Based on Singapore’s overall commerce traffic, the top five e-commerce sites were Shopee, Lazada, Qoo10, Amazon and Ezbuy, which includes ‘Buy-For-Me’ and ‘Ship For Me’ services to streamline cross-border shopping.

Singaporean online shoppers cite delivery costs as the biggest barrier to shopping cross-border. Merchants are now being recommended to consider incorporating shipping costs in the price of their product or offer flat shipping rates to address this concern.

A mobile-first approach is also being pushed forward as it was observed that most Singaporean online shoppers buy via smartphone. It was revealed that about two-thirds have downloaded at least one shopping app in 2020.

For payment options, credit cards are the most used and preferred payment method for all e-commerce sites. PayPal was recorded to have been used by 31% of shoppers for online cross-border transactions.

The preferred mode of language for shops remains to be English. From the respondents, 22% of online shoppers said that they would not make a purchase from another market if customer support was not available in their preferred language.