State of Online Shopping in Malaysia and Singapore

Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} The90s was a golden age for futuristic predictions especially during the dot-comboom period. It was predicted that the brick and mortar stores will be obsoletein another 15-20 years. In other words, it was predicted that the consumerswill be shopping from the comfort of their bedroom without having to step outof their homes or pajamas. Well, we are almost close to the 15 year mark andguess where we Malaysians and Singaporeans stand now. Yes, you are right. Weare still waiting on the long aisles of our supermarkets.   Onlineshopping has taken strong hold in western countries and will continue toexperience growth. But on the other hand, Malaysia and Singapore lag far behindthe western countries including other Asian countries such as Japan , Korea and Hong Kong . So what are the problems?   Manyreasons can be attributed to this dismal state including lack of shoppingexperience, privacy concerns, credit card safety and other such issues that arenormally stated for the lack of online shopping growth. But there are alsoother reasons that are peculiar to Malaysia and Singapore only.   1. Shopping is a NationalPastime: Malaysiansand especially, Singaporeans love shopping. Along with eating out, shoppingranks highly in their preferred list of leisure activities. But on the otherhand, online shopping lacks scope for any kind of social interaction. 2. Inability to Bargain: Asians on the whole loveto bargain. For many Malaysians and Singaporeans, shopping is incompletewithout bargaining. Shoppers here try their very best to convince the owner toreduce the prices. Many would consider their shopping complete if only theywere able to buy products at rates below the advertised price. But it will notbe possible for consumers to bargain when shopping online. 3. Inability to FeelProduct: The average Asian would want to touch & feel most of the goods beforebuying. This is due to the fact that the shoppers don't trust what is in thebox. Many would want to have it opened and checked, right in front of theireyes. But this is not possible while shopping online. 4. Delay in Delivery: Web stores in Singapore and Malaysia normally don't reflect thecurrent stock position of a product. Many a times the stock gets deliveredafter a week or two. But shoppers will find out only after completing theirpayment. This is one of the many reasons, why shoppers in Malaysia and Singapore are wary about orderingproduct online.   Thoughthere are many such identified blocks, but the future is not very bleak as itseems to be. Given below are some key indicators. 1.The past few years witnessed rapid growth in the number of online stores. 2.Many brick and mortar stores now have a web presence. 3.There is an overall increase in the number of online shoppers. 4.Shoppers nowadays depend on Internet to do product research to aid theirpurchase decisions. 5.In the past year or two, a few price comparison sites have cropped up.This indicates that online shopping in Malaysia and Singapore is maturing. 6.Internet and Broadband connections in Malaysia and Singapore are witnessing steady growth over the past couple of years.   Asthese key indicators suggest, online shopping in Malaysia and Singapore is poised to grow at a very healthy rate in the days to come. But to reach thelevels of other mature markets, online retailers will have to be proactive andshould take all necessary steps to allay the fears of online shoppers. Normal 0 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 st1:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} About Shopparadiso Shopparadiso.com launched in August 2008, is a price comparison shopping search engine for Malaysia and Singapore region. It searches,indexes and lists thousands of products from scores of online merchants usingproprietary search technology. The site also collects retail store deals,offers, vouchers etc., and is integrated with online search results. We havealso integrated product reviews, blog stores and local store addresses alongwith the online and local store search results. This enables online and offlineshoppers to find competitively priced products either from an online or offlinemerchant along with necessary information about a particular product.

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