Singaporeans' love for shopping is fast spreading through
cyberspace.
Shoppers in Singapore spent S$1.1 billion on online purchases in
2010 and are likely to spend four times that amount by 2015,
according to research by payments service provider PayPal.
In a press statement on Thursday, PayPal said results from its
first "Online and Mobile Shopping Insights" study in Singapore
indicated that the city-state has about 1.2 million online shoppers
above the age of 18 and they spent an average of S$1,492 per person
last year.
Nearly 40 percent or about S$420 million of the retail purchases
were domestic or made on local websites, and even when the shoppers
did buy from overseas websites, they cited "unavailability" and
"greater choice" as more important reasons than "less expensive"
and "better discounts".
The study commissioned by PayPal was conducted by research and
survey firm Nielsen from January to February 2011 and polled 407
Singapore online shoppers aged 18 and above.
The study also showed that travel was the top category of retail
purchases, accounting for S$307 million or 28 percent of
Singapore's online shopping market.
The fashion and beauty category came in second at S$146 million,
followed by entertainment and lifestyle at S$143 million, IT and
electronics at S$117 million, general insurance at S$83 million and
gifts and collectibles at S$75 million.
Movies and tickets for events at S$36 million and general
insurance also at S$36 million were the top categories for domestic
online shopping, while books at S$41 million and movies, music and
video games at S$25 million were the top categories for
cross-border online shopping.
In addition, online shoppers bought double the amount for
clothing at S$84 million and travel packages S$38 million on
overseas websites compared to domestic sites.
The study also showed that mobile shopping in Singapore is still
in its infancy stage, but that the potential for growth is
significant.
Over 364,000 online shoppers in Singapore spent S$43 million
through their mobile devices last year or about 4 percent of the
online shopping market.
The purchases were mainly for low-priced items like movie
tickets, fashion items and mobile apps, leading to an average spend
per person of S$119.
Four out of 10 online shoppers in Singapore though are willing
to make a purchase on their mobile phones, the study found.
Singapore's online shopping market is expected to increase amid
a strengthening of the Singapore dollar, which makes it cheaper for
shoppers to buy overseas items, and the rise in the number of
mass-buying websites in Singapore offering collective consumer
deals such as the local Groupon site.
-- Yahoo!