Online shopping looks hot - but 80% of e-tailers are in the red
Pandemic's pushing consumers online, but competition is fierce, with price war leaving businesses no elbow room to manoeuvre
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.
TRENDING NOW
DBS, OCBC and UOB shares hit all-time highs as sentiment improves
E-commerce job cuts signal S-E Asia’s shift from scaling to deeper user engagement
Targeted credit relief: Vietnam steers funding to Vingroup, Sun Group, Masterise megaprojects
With AI, it’s not about coding better; workers need to think better: Koh Boon Hwee