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Singapore emerging as hub for cross-border e-Commerce platforms
As Southeast Asia is emerging as a new market for cross-border e-Commerce platforms, Singapore has placed itself in the midst of the action.
Industry players see it as the preferred entry point to serve both local and regional markets as it offers a highly-reliable payment gateway and logistics services.
The World Bank has also ranked the Republic as Asia’s top logistics hub for ten years in a row.
Singapore emerging as a key e-commerce platforms destination
Deloitte’s Technology-empowered Digital Trade in Asia Pacific report highlighted that Singapore has emerged as one of the key e-Commerce destinations in Asia.
In addition to its strategic location, advanced digital economy ecology, and highly developed Internet market, Singapore’s e-Commerce industry is also fueled by the presence of several ASEAN unicorns who have chosen to establish their regional headquarters there.
With 15 unicorns under its belt, Singapore accounts for the lion’s share of the region’s unicorns. This includes several well-known ones, such as Grab, Carousell, Lazada, Ninja Van, Shoppee, with valuations of more than US$1 billion each.
Singapore’s vibrant e-Commerce platforms industry
Singapore’s thriving e-Commerce scene is a testament to the vibrant growth of the country’s retail industry.
With increased internet penetration and a growing number of tech-savvy consumers, e-Commerce has seen steady growth in recent years.
In 2020, the cross-border e-Commerce market in Singapore was worth US$2.15 billion and accounted for 35% of the nation’s overall e-Commerce market.
Singapore’s revenue in the e-Commerce market is projected to reach US$7,157million in 2022, and the number of users is expected to amount to 4.1 million by 2022.
Singapore surpassing its regional peers in digital adoption
According to Deloitte, Singapore is the most digitized economy with its rate of digital adoption amongst its regional peers. The report states that Singaporean companies were most digitized across production, trading, sales, payments, and logistics.
The study also found that the country’s firms are more connected to customers through digital channels than their regional peers. The penetration rate of payment digitalization in Singapore stood at an impressive 85.2%.
By 2025, it is estimated that the e-commerce market in Singapore will double in size, with gross merchandise volume (GMV) amounting to US$8 billion.
A report by Bain & Company also shared that e-Commerce sales in the Republic are expected to grow to US$10 billion by the end of 2026.
Singapore is facing a skills shortage for digital talent
There is still a demand for local talent specializing in e-Commerce, digital marketing, and marketing due to the shortage of talent with these skillsets.
The recent Salesforce’s Global Digital Skills Index study found that 64% of Singapore workers do not feel very prepared with workplace digital skills, and only 29% are actively upskilling themselves.
To remain competitive, Singapore will need 1.2 million additional digital workers by 2025, according to a report commissioned by Amazon Web Services (AWS),
The report estimated that the Singapore workforce needs 23.8 million digital-skills training sessions from now until 2025.
Source: https://techwireasia.com/2022/02/singapore-hub-for-cross-border-e-commerce-platforms/