Discovering the Growth of the Leading E-commerce Sites & Apps in Singapore in 2019

• Lazada and Shopee consistently were the most actively used e-commerce shopping apps in Southeast Asia in 2019 according to App Annie.
• Amazon.sg was highly successful in garnering more visits as the platform leapfrogged to the 4^th most-visited websites within one quarter.  
• Singapore is in the forefront of having the highest average basket size in Southeast Asia. Notably, it had an average basket size of S$110 on Singles’ day.

As ASEAN’s most prominent e-commerce hub, 2019 was an unprecedented year for Singapore’s e-commerce companies. According to Google, Temasek & Bain company, the e-commerce industry in Singapore is predicted to contribute a total of S$9.8 billion in 2025, a 22% increase from 2015, which signifies ample room for further growth in Singapore’s e-commerce sector within the next five years.

Recognising this exponential growth, iPrice Group in collaboration with App Annie and SimilarWeb, conducted a Yearend Report (2019) to keep track on the city-state’s world-class digital economy & ambition to achieve Smart Nation status by analysing the most interesting developments of the top-performing e-commerce players in the Lion City as of 2019.

Here are 4 vital insights that we discovered from the report:

Singapore is in the Vanguard

Singapore-headquartered companies, Lazada and Shopee, were consistently the most actively used e-commerce shopping apps in Singapore and Southeast Asia in 2019, according to App Annie. Data reveals that the two giant e-commerce companies showed clear stability throughout the year, indicating strong customer loyalty.

While in terms of web visits, the SEA-backed e-commerce company was probably the most successful in acquiring visitors in 2019 as Shopee maintained its position as the most-visited e-commerce platform (desktop & mobile web), garnering more than 2 billion visitors across Southeast Asian countries.   

On the other hand, Lazada continued to thrive on market share in Southeast Asia as the company experienced growth by 13% in visitors as of 2019.

The Best Singapore-Focused E-commerce Company

Despite the tight competition against the industry’s unicorns in the Lion City, Qoo10, which was formerly known as GMarket, remained a strong presence in 2019. The company was recorded as the 2^nd most-visited e-commerce platform, acquiring almost 30% of the web market share in Singapore as of 2019.

In the e-commerce shopping apps arena, Qoo10 had consistently maintained its position as the 2^nd most-used e-commerce app in Q3 2019. However, due to several big online sales events in Q4, the company slid to 3^rd position.

Rapid Growth of Amazon.sg Since its Debut

American behemoth e-commerce company, Amazon.sg, which recently launched in Singapore, was seen to be highly successful in garnering more visits as the platform leapfrogged to the 4th most-visited website within one quarter. One of the many initiatives that led to a higher number of visitors was probably the localisation strategy to tailor their products to Singaporeans. Both Amazon Prime Now and Amazon apps also remained in the top 10 most-used e-commerce shopping apps as of Q4 2019.

Lifting the curtain of its availability in the country, the company is projected as a strong competitor against other home-grown e-commerce companies in Singapore. Touting a broad inventory of products available such as books, video games, home and kitchen, and consumer electronics for both local and international shipping, the company is most likely to increase the demand of local consumers in Singapore in 2020.    

Outgrowing the Pond

Singapore is at the forefront of having the highest average basket size in Southeast Asia. According to our data in 2019, shoppers in Singapore had an average basket size of S$110 on Single’s Day. The high spending on online sales events was driven by the positive interest of consumers of the sales event paired with extravagant deals & marketing initiatives by various e-commerce companies.

Moreover, many possibilities that most likely led to high spending on online sales events were probably due to high per capita incomes. With its maturity in technological advancement, the average order values in Singapore’s e-commerce sector are 3-4 times higher than its neighbouring countries.