Singaporeans expect retailers to adopt unified commerce, Adyen report shows

According to the press release, the 2020 Agility Retail Report, commissioned by Adyen, interviewed over 25,000 consumers across 16 countries, including more than 1,000 in Singapore, to understand what people expect from shopping and dining experiences today. Accordingly, the pandemic led to a mass migration to online channels, with 49% of the Singaporeans surveyed saying they shopped more online than prior to the pandemic, more than the global average of 33%. 

Moreover, according to Adyen’s research, 59% Singaporeans prefer to shop in a physical store. However, despite this, many turned to online alternatives during the pandemic to continue shopping. Apart from using websites, 64% also used shopping apps more during this period than previously, especially among 18 to 34-year olds (71%). While there is a preference for shopping offline, there’s some hesitance about going back despite restrictions easing, with 75% still avoiding shopping in store for non-essential items. 

The most common reason has been the close proximity to strangers (57%), with those over the age of 55 being the most concerned (63%). Other common reasons include Singaporeans watching how much they spend due to economic uncertainty (50%), as well as not wanting to stand in length queues (46%). Findings from the Agility Retail Report point to consumer behaviours having changed permanently. 

Furthermore, 87% of Singaporeans believe that if retailers can sell across multiple channels during the pandemic they should adopt the same flexible approach permanently. The need to maintain and offer these online offerings moving forward is especially important as more than half (54%) of the Singaporeans surveyed said they plan to shop more online despite the easing of restrictions, significantly higher than their global (36%) and Hong Kong counterparts (47%). 

Additionally, retailers should also offer the following to cater to the new demands and expectations of Singaporean consumers:  

• Contactless payments for hygiene: For payment experiences, most Singaporean consumers want choices and prefer cashless and contactless options as they are concerned about hygiene (72%). In fact, they are more concerned about this than their global (54%) and Hong Kong (59%) counterparts. Retailers can cater to this by reducing person-to-person contact by offering solutions such as self-checkout with mobile apps or kiosks. 

• Ease of use critical: Customers want ease of use, so ahead of the busy shopping peaks of Christmas and Chinese New Year, retailers would be wise to implement the right technology that will help customers easily navigate their online offerings. If not, 83% of Singaporeans said they would not shop with a retailer whose website or app are difficult to navigate. 

• Improving loyalty: Retailers should consider changing how they currently offer their loyalty and rewards programmes, as 82% of consumers believe those being offered to them can be improved. Two options for consideration would be making the programme available through an app or linked to the customer’s credit card. Connecting a loyalty programme to an app would also be beneficial to the brand, as 56% of Singaporeans believe there’s currently not enough advantages to download a retailer’s app.