New data released by Adyen has underscored the importance of unified commerce retail in mitigating sector and wider economic turbulence caused by the coronavirus pandemic in Singapore.
Anonymised transaction data across Adyen’s global payments platform found that around half of retailers adopting a unified commerce or omnichannel approach saw their total number of transactions remain consistent during the pandemic – meaning that the reduction in sales volumes from stores was offset by online channels.
Adyen’s data also found that shoppers who only ever purchased from a retailer in-store prior to the pandemic spent, on average, 40% more when they shifted online to make purchases during the pandemic. The importance of unified commerce to the performance of Singapore’s retail sector is further demonstrated in economic analysis commissioned by Adyen and conducted by the Centre for Economic and Business Research (Cebr).
Cebr’s research found a strong relationship between unified commerce and global retail sector resilience during the lockdown. Economies that rank higher on the UNCTAD Index, measuring each country’s preparedness for unified commerce, saw a more resilient retail sector during the lockdown period. Singapore scored highly on the Index, ranking as the most suited Asian economy for ecommerce and the third most suited economy globally. Of the countries in this study, only the Netherlands (96.4) and Switzerland (95.5) surpass Singapore’s index score of 95.1.
The research also showed that the proportion of total retail sales stemming from online channels amounted to 18.1% in June 2020. This was more than triple the figures seen prior to the pandemic, showing just how quickly consumers have been able to shift their spending behaviour online in the absence of more typical expenditure channels.
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