sapSAP Hybris recently conducted a survey on Christmas shopping habits in Singapore that revealed that more than half of Singapore consumers (51%) were dissatisfied with the Christmas gifts they received over the last three years.

Most likely, this is mainly due to lack of planning since 17% of the more than 1000 survey respondents said they shop at the last minute and simply buy whatever is convenient.  In fact, despite the Christmas shopping hype, almost one fifth (19%) did not even receive Christmas gifts over the last three years, and another 24% are not actually in the habit of buying Christmas gifts for their loved ones. Amongst those who do shop for Christmas gifts, 69% said they will try to personalize gifts for at least their close friends and family.

“With more than two thirds of Singapore consumers looking to personalize gifts for their loved ones this Christmas, it is critical for retailers and marketers to be thinking of contextual marketing to understand what they are looking for and ease the gift-hunting experience. Retailers have the opportunity to thrive across many touch points with well-executed hybrid experiences that drive engagement and sales to get Singaporeans spending beyond Christmas,” said Nicholas Kontopoulos, Global Vice President of Fast Growth Markets for SAP Hybris in the Asia Pacific region.

With high Internet and mobile penetration rates, it is of little wonder that Christmas online shopping is picking up among Singaporeans. In point of fact, the eCommerce market in Singapore is expected to be worth US$5.4 billion (S$7.46 billion) by 2025, according to a report by Temasek and Google released earlier in May this year, and is anticipated to make up 6.7% of all retail sales by 2025.

When asked to rank the importance of retail offerings, the research also found that Singapore shoppers want cross-channel options more than new-age services like digital wallets and augmented reality (AR) store experiences.

When it comes to Christmas shopping, Singaporeans prefer retailers with a physical store coupled with both eCommerce and mobile app (68%), as well as those who offer self-pickup services at physical store (54%). In addition, 65% of respondents stated that retailers can improve their Christmas shopping experience by offering free shipping, 48% believed on-time delivery would be a benefit, and 41% noted that gift customization would signal yet another improvement.
“Singaporeans are amongst the most tech-savvy spenders in Asia, and no strangers to eCommerce. Despite that, and reports of Singapore’s continuously challenging retail landscape, the brick and mortar stores are definitely not dead. In fact, the SAP Hybris survey found that 39% of Singaporeans still enjoy browsing through stores. This reinforces what we have been telling retailers for some time: Singapore is a truly multi-channel market, where most consumers are using a combination of devices in their online and offline shopping. The findings also point us to a future where offline and online shopping are no longer two separate business models. Singaporeans are demanding a seamless omnichannel shopping experience,” Kontopoulos concluded.

 

SAP1

SAP2By SAP Hybris, representing the SAP solutions for customer engagement and commerce