Singapore’s ecommerce players see growth following strategic efforts, report says

The past year has been an indispensable year for the ecommerce industry in Singapore. According to the global chief economist of British firm Economist Intelligence Unit, Singapore is set to become a regional ecommerce hub, given its “sound financial sector and reputation as a safe haven.”

We at iPrice have been keeping a close eye on Singapore’s ecommerce platforms. We conducted a study to see the most engrossing developments in the industry in Q1 2019. And by analyzing data from SimilarWeb and App Annie Intelligence, we have identified the key developments involving the city-state’s biggest ecommerce players.

Traffic figures were collected from SimilarWeb. The market share figures in this article were determined by accumulating the total visits garnered by the top 30 ecommerce platforms listed in our Map of Ecommerce. A platform’s market share was calculated based on the total visits (desktop and mobile web) it obtained within a given period.

The study does not include some sectors, namely e-ticketing, financial services, rental services, insurance, delivery services, food and beverage, meta-search, couponing, cashback websites, and ecommerce platforms that purely provide classified ads or peer-to-peer services. To ascertain the most-visited local and Southeast Asian ecommerce platforms, international applications were not included in this category.

Qoo10 thrives with localized initiatives

Qoo10 continues to lead as the most-visited platform in Singapore, with 31% market share from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019. Its app ranks third in App Store and fourth in Google Play.

Qoo10 is initiating various localized efforts to strengthen its position in Singapore. One is its strategic alliance with United Overseas Bank, which allows consumers and merchants to seamlessly conduct transactions on Qoo10’s website and its blockchain platform, Quube. As of March, Quube has more than 1,300 retailers and 2.2 million products for sale.

Lazada sees an uptrend

Lazada has strengthened its position as a close competitor to Qoo10 by holding 28% market share from Q4 2018 to Q1 2019. It also saw a 19% growth in total visits, garnering an average of 8 million monthly visits. Its traffic in November of last year rose to 11.9 million as it worked closely with Alibaba for a successful Singles’ Day sale.

According to App Annie, its mobile shopping app leads with the highest number of monthly active users (MAUs) in Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand, and the Philippines.

Shopee stays a fast-growing competitor

Shopee demonstrates a significant improvement within a short period of time. It currently holds the third-biggest market share in total visits at 10%. It’s worth noting that the Singapore-based ecommerce firm was at sixth place in Q1 2018, with just 6% market share in total visits. This growth positions Shopee as a rapidly growing ecommerce competitor in Singapore.

It also experienced an immense growth of 40% in total visits between Q1 2018 and Q1 2019. Its app ranks third in MAUs in Singapore.

More remarkable shifts

The other most-visited ecommerce platforms in Singapore include StrawberryNet, Ezbuy, Zalora, and eBay, with a combined market share of 19% in total visits.