Online shopping looks hot - but 80% of e-tailers are in the red

Singapore

ONLINE retail may now seem like a sure bet for aspiring retailers, with more consumers buying online amid the coronavirus pandemic, but industry players warn that this segment of retail has more risks than meets the eye, some of which may even be heightened by the pandemic.

Interest in the online retail sub-sector has been growing in recent years, but appears to have surged amid the pandemic. According to data analysis firm Handshakes, studying data from the Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (Acra), there were 8,275 active entities that retail via the Internet as at June this year, a 28 per cent rise year on year.