More than ever, consumers are avoiding the hassle of going to the store and opting to buy products and services online. And it's not just that new customers are discovering the ease and convenience of e-commerce, it's also a result of existing customers spending more. Buying online isn't a novelty anymore; consumers are embracing the behaviour as a lifestyle and making it an ingrained part of their daily lives. Because it's growing into such an organic part of daily life, small businesses have to consider e-commerce as a powerful and even necessary channel to reach consumers and sell products.
E-commerce is Strongest in Singapore
Singapore's online commerce market is growing fast. In fact, Singapore's e-commerce growth outstrips the growth rate of any other Southeast Asian country or Asia at large. The Singaporean online shopper population has expanded by 49% over the last 3 years to 2.7 million consumers.
People Are Spending More
Because online shopping is becoming such a habit and a lifestyle; existing e-commerce shoppers are spending more and more. In 2014, there was an increase of almost 80% on average online spend per person - that was almost US$800 more than last year.
Mobile is Growing Faster
Everyday people turn to their smartphones to listen to music, connect with friends, find restaurants, and get the latest news. We are using our mobile phones for everything in life, and now that includes online shopping. In fact, mobile commerce shows a stronger growth than the overall e-commerce market. While purchases on computers went down by 5% in the last three years, the number of mobile purchases has risen by 17%. Young Singaporean customers (between 18 and 29 years) are driving this trend; almost three quarters of them use their mobile devices for online shopping. And mobile usage is expected to continue to grow by 15% annually!
What does this mean for Small Business?
This growth in online shopping shows us that it's no longer just something consumers do for one-off purchases on rare occasions. It's not just about buying that hard to find item from overseas, or buying flowers for a relative in another country. Online commerce is becoming a viable alternative to brick-and-mortar shopping – from luxury fashion to convenience items like baby formula – people are beginning to expect all businesses to have an online shopping facility.
Mobile e-commerce is another behaviour that used to be a novelty and is now becoming mainstream. Consumers are no longer happy to accept a poor shopping experience on their mobile phones.
Small Businesses need to make sure they're equipped to deal with this new reality. They must do business and offer customer service online and they must have an online presence that works perfectly on a mobile phone. The opportunity is there – now is the time to seize it!
*Source: PayPal Insights, The Travel Edition - Southeast Asia Singapore, November 2014