41% of Singaporeans Shop on Facebook, Instagram & Other Social Media Channels
Updated: Aug 21, 2021
Credit: Getty Images
A Visa study revealed that Singaporeans are doing their shopping online more frequently and that the habit will persist even when the pandemic is over.
According to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study, the COVID-19 pandemic greatly accelerated the shift to eCommerce in Singapore, with 74% of consumers shopping more frequently online through websites or mobile apps due to nationwide lockdowns and social distancing measures. The study also cited personal safety concerns as one of the main reasons why Singaporeans chose to shop online more frequently.
The study, which was conducted in September 2020 by CLEAR, had 1,000 Singaporean respondents from ages 18 to 65 years old. This study was part of a regional research project conducted in Southeast Asia on over 7,500 consumers across eight markets.
Kunal Chatterjee, Visa Country Manager for Singapore and Brunei, said that the upward trend of Singaporeans shopping online is unlikely to reverse itself even when vaccines become widely available to the Singaporean population. Kunal Chatterjee further stated that the observed trend would probably continue long after the pandemic ends.
Shoppe and Lazada were the most visited e-commerce websites in Singapore during the second quarter of 2020 according to Statista Credit: pngmart & iconlogovector
The study’s findings indicate that home delivery has seen a significant rise during the pandemic according to the study’s findings. 71% of Singaporeans have been discovered to be using home delivery services while 25% are using the service for the first time. It also discovered that almost half of the Singaporean consumers are more inclined to shop from large online marketplaces now, and nearly a third are shopping from local business and home-based businesses.
The study determined that one in five Singaporean consumers expect to continue shopping at large online marketplaces after the pandemic ends. Meanwhile, more than one in 10 Singaporean consumers expect shopping from home-based business and local business to become post-pandemic habits.
It was also observed that nearly half of Singaporean consumers shop more frequently from stores that are close to their homes. 41% of Singaporeans stated that they shop more frequently through social media channels, and one in five of them are first-time social media shoppers.
The study revealed that spending on international travel will be the most likely to quickly recover after the pandemic. 59% of Singaporeans indicated that they will be spending on international travel once travel restrictions are lifted.
Written by John Paul Joaquin