Riding the momentum of e-commerce

WHILE shopping has long been synonymous with the world-famous Orchard Road in Singapore or Xintiandi in Shanghai, it is rapidly taking on a different form across the Asia-Pacific. Beyond just browsing from aisle to aisle, consumers in the region are now also spending more time clicking and tapping through pages of items, from shoes to groceries.

Online supermarket Redmart in Singapore and regional e-commerce giant Lazada are just two examples of companies that have invested substantial resources to provide consumers with increased choice and ease of shopping. In fact, online shopping is becoming so popular that 50 per cent of Singaporeans would do all their shopping online if possible, according to the Visa Consumer Payment Attitudes Study 2014.

Beyond the ecosystem of digital startups and businesses, however, this fast-growing e-commerce trend has also been validated by global paper products giant Kimberly-Clark across the Asia-Pacific region especially in key markets such as China and South Korea. There, e-commerce has been driving sales growth for the company over the last few years.