Consumer Buying BehaviourSingapore
In conjunction with Black Friday, 11.11, 12.12 and still the ongoing year-end sales, statics and surveys on Singaporean shopping habits or consumer path to buying has been released. On average, 3 out of 5 Singaporeans shop online. Amongst those who does not shop online, 60% of them at least discovered the item that they bought on the internet 1st before heading out to find the item from a local store.
How come such a high number of people in Singapore are shopping online? Well, there’s multiple contributing factors. Let’s run through the list:
- Price. With the high cost of living, people do their best to source for the cheapest alternative they can find. Online shop usually offer this alternative as they do not have to pay rent or labour.
- Time. Singapore is a place where people come to work and work morning till night. Time is a luxury whereby not many can afford. So, shopping online is great for all. You can do it on your bed before going to sleep.
- Transportation. Especially for bulky items, no now wants to lug the item around on the ever-crowded trains and buses. Partly due to personal inconvenience and partly due to not wanting to cause inconvenience to other passengers.
So, are there people who still do not shop online? Well, this group is shrinking in size say by day. They keep hearing their family and friends buying cheap stuffs online, so they convert into online shoppers. At the same time, they hear their family and friends getting scammed online, so they stay put. This group are usually the late-technology adopters. They are generally the older generation or they are people who really need to see, touch and feel before buying.
Sometime last week, there’s news about a group of retailers in Punggol going onboard the giant E-Commerce platforms. This speaks volumes on the need for e-commerce or digital asset for retailers.
As the world moves into a customer-centric model, e-commerce stores with chatbots, efficient websites and fast delivery are the ones who will thrive.
