Singapore takes to mobile shopping

A recent Synovate whitepaper showed that Singapore has the highest penetration of smartphone ownership (62 per cent) among the 30 markets surveyed.

In another report, PayPal Online and Mobile Safety Insights 2011 also revealed that nearly seven out of 10 Singaporeans said using their mobile device would be faster and more convenient because they can make a transaction “anytime, anywhere”.

Elias Ghanem, managing director at PayPal Southeast Asia and India, said online shopping had now become mainstream. This was especially true during the festive season, as many Singaporeans skipped the long queues, searched online for great deals and bought gifts from the comfort of their homes, she added.

THe PayPal survey predicted that Singapore’s boom in online shopping would continue to be worth US$4.4 billion a year by 2015.

Julian Persaud, managing director of Google Southeast Asia, meanwhile said more people will use their mobile phones more than personal computers to get online by 2013. Google’s data shows that 66 per cent of shopping-related searches are coming from mobile devices and Persaud has advised businesses that they need to adapt their online services accordingly.

“By this Chinese New Year, 63 per cent of Singaporeans are expected to own smartphones," Persaud said. "But, research has shown that 79 per cent of Singaporean businesses don’t have mobile-friendly websites. That’s like shutting the door on one out of every four customers who tries to walk into your shop during the most important retail season of the year.”