‘New and lasting habits’: Singapore’s online shopping surge will persist after COVID-19
Trend: E-commerce
Many Singaporean consumers have shifted their purchasing behavior from offline to online shopping as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, and experts have predicted that this shift will be a long-lasting one with effects long past the outbreak.
According to data from data analytics firm Nielsen, 37% of Singaporean consumers have increased online shopping activities since the COVID-19 outbreak, and over three-quarters (76%) have already indicated that they will not return to pre-outbreak online shopping levels.
Some 70% of consumers opted to shop online to stock pantries with FMCG items such as packaged foods and beverages, and 69% of those who had bought these goods online for the first time during COVID-19 are already planning to do so again within the next 12 months.
“The convenience and accessibility to products online, especially during COVID-19, have not only increased existing online shoppers' spend but also converted many offline shoppers to online. This trend is unlikely to return to pre-COVID status,” Nielsen Executive Director of Consumer Insights Garick Kea told FoodNavigator-Asia.
“Consumers have already changed their lifestyle habits due to COVID-19, changing what, when and how they buy, and started making adaptations to how they shop - these adjustments may have established new and lasting habits.
“Hence, even when people return to their daily routines after the crisis passes, they may continue to be cautious about their health and want to enjoy the convenience of e-commerce.”
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