Whether you’re a bricks-and-mortar business looking to expand your sales operation online, or you’re looking to quit your job and set up your own online business in Singapore in 2022, the question is really this
Is 2022 The Right Time To Set Up Your Online Business?
The answer without a doubt is a unanimous YES. eCommerce in Singapore is booming and it’s set to explode in 2022. In fact, according to WorldPay the size of the e-commerce business marketplace in Singapore is set to grow by an absolutely massive 48%.
Meaning the online marketplace in Singapore in 2022 will be valued at $9.98bn. Leading many experts to predict that by the end of the decade the eCommerce industry in Singapore could surpass $100bn.
Before we look at why this rapid growth is about to occur, we just want to let those individuals who are planning to become their own boss and set up their online business know that in the second half of the article we have a list of top types of businesses you could set up.
Why is the online marketplace about to explode?
This massive growth is coming about as e-commerce in Singapore is about to enter a positive perfect storm, as social/technological/political / and educational factors coalesce to create a new environment…
Where shopping at an online store becomes second nature to the wider public. We will interrogate each factor below, so you know what to look out for and what you can take advantage of…
1. Social
The covid pandemic has affected society in so many ways, changing how we think about everything from health to socializing.
As all of us in Singapore get used to these new norms, from a business and in particular eCommerce point of view, the pandemic is changing how we shop. Now more than at any other time more people are shopping online.
Quarantine meant we could no longer go to the shops, the wider public, and older technology laggards were forced to start shopping online as physical restriction meant they had to use a digital alternative.
The young are always the first to adopt trends (and up until 2020, the young were the main online shoppers) But not anymore, throughout Singapore, across the ages everyone is shopping online.
So for you as a business owner or as a new eCommerce creator, there are opportunities to create digital propositions to become accessible by the widest possible group of people.
Linked very closely to this is the fact that people are now spending across a much wider variety of categories online… it’s no longer just the domain of technology, people will now look online at Singapore companies to buy everything. There is an opportunity for you.
2. Technological
In particular, mobile phone adoption. All across Asia (and not just here in Singapore) Mobile infrastructure is fast-forwarding internet adoption and online purchasing.
Throughout Asia, people are using their mobile phones to pay for goods in stores with their e-wallets.
These buyers are now comfortable with alternative modes of currency (or transaction), and concurrently what’s occurring is comfort in purchasing goods online via their phone, as they see it as just an extension to what they are already doing elsewhere.
What is very interesting is how much time people are spending online on their mobile phones…be it social etc, while in these environments they’re in close digital proximity to purchase goods they see on there, which is just a click away.
Particularly here in Singapore, people are being ‘influenced’ to buy more cool items they see online on their phones.
3. Educational
The changing face of education is driven by big tech companies, be it Google, Facebook, Tencent, or any number of large eCommerce websites, they’re creating fun, informative and intuitive education portals (like Google Garage) helping to get more people to set up online businesses.
Often superseding the slog of university business books and getting straight to the:
- Business structure,
- Setting up,
- & selling part of the business model.
Supporting these educational platforms is a set of in-situ tools to help improve your business, and over the next month, Google is releasing a new website that will enable its users to track and manage their offline business online.
4. Political
Singapore government incentives, the enterprise department have relaunched the eCommerce booster package here in Singapore, so retailers can diversify their operation so as to add an online element to their offering.
Eligible retailers will receive a one-time support stipend of up to $8k.
The program is supported by and worked in conjunction with Lazada, Mummys Market, Qoo10, Shopee, and Zalora, who will help get retailers properly set up, offering expertise in everything from design to channel management.
When you take these 4 massive factors into consideration you can see why so many experts are excited about the importance and benefits of eCommerce here in Singapore in 2022.
So you see this massive opportunity and you’re considering quitting your job to set up an online business
Is it the right thing to do? Well just read the next list and see what you think…
- Sick of the early mornings?
- The horrendous commute?
- The sickening traffic jams?
- Bad coffee?
- Sterile offices?
- Your bosses’ bad jokes?
- The immature and toxic office culture?
- The lunch queues?
- And the poor cheque at the end of the month?
It doesn’t read well when you list them out like that, one or more of these issues are probably driving your decisions to create your business plan and set up your online biz here in Singapore.
Whatever it is, use it to motivate yourself to get your online service created. You can do it. We believe in you, we’re here to help, and as you read above, now is the time to do it. But there are a few things to consider…
What should you consider when starting a business?
Before you get started there are a number of factors you will need to consider.
1. Stock Management
Will you need to bulk buy, and can you free up capital, is it an extension of your current bricks and mortar range, have you properly predicted these stock levels, and do you have the money to pay for these costs.
Or maybe you will follow the dropshipping route where you only purchase the individual product after it has been bought on your site.
Instead, you may look to sell digital products or use affiliate links which would mean you would not need to worry about stock replenishment.
Whatever you choose, this is your first priority, organize this properly and the rest falls into order a lot easier.
2. Site Builder & Design
Next up you’ll need to create your site, for this, you will need a site builder.
These include:
- Shopify
- Wix
- Squarespace
- WordPress
- Amongst many others.
With most site builders (including the first 3 mentioned above) you will have to pay a monthly subscription fee (usually from $15 upwards) however if you build with WordPress it’s free.
Your next consideration when building your site is design, here you can do it yourself or you can pay for a professional.
Unless you’re creating a beautiful super technical site we recommend you do it yourself… Most site builders have an awesome collection of free and paid-for templates which you can tailor for your site.
3. Hosting Plan
Just building a site is not enough, you will need a website address and you will need a provider to host it on the web.
Many of the site builders offer hosting as part of their monthly subscription. If you go with WordPress you will need to organize your own hosting. There are hosting plans to suit every business need, starting from as low as $0.99 per month with a company called Hostinger. We have a breakdown of the best and cheapest shared web hosting packages in Singapore here.
4. Payment Providers
If you’re a transactional website, you will need to process payments daily, protecting both your own profits and your customer’s data is essential, so choosing a strong payment provider will be key to your ongoing success.
Thankfully there are lots of great players in the marketplace, like Stripe / PayPal / SagePay / Shopify and many many more.
5. Email platform
A customer’s purchase is just the first step in their journey with you. Email is the key to building a longer-term profitable relationship with these customers.
To maximize the awesome potential of email, you will need an email content strategy (what to say to different customers and different points in their journey) and an email platform to deliver this.
A lot of the site builders offer free email with their sites, enough to get you started, but as you develop you will need to consider a paid-for email platform, we’re big fans of GetResponse here, as their email build is easy to use with a very malleable design function.
6. Content Strategy
Even if you’re just creating a one-product site you will still need quality content.
If you’re creating a site that will drive the majority of its traffic via SEO you will need a continual flow of quality content being uploaded to your site.
7. Marketing/Advertising Strategy
Will you need to advertise on the likes of Facebook or via the Google Display Network, who is your target audience, where do they sit in the purchase funnel?
What message will trigger the target market progression to the next level (or more importantly conversion)?
Should you use a video or a still ad, how much budget are you willing to spend to achieve your goals?
These are all questions you will need to ask yourself before approaching any ad campaign.
8. Analytics tools
You need to know what is and what is not working.
Are you achieving strong positive ROI’s? Luckily there is a raft of free and paid tools to help you understand more. Google Analytics and Facebook analytics are two awesome free tools. SEMRush is a fantastic paid-for tool. Whatever you want to analyze there is a tool out there.
9. Budgeting
There are a lot of variables above to consider. As a rule of thumb, you should have enough budget to run your business for at least 2 quarters before you start it. Obviously dependent on the sector and stock model you adopt this number will vary massively for different businesses.
10. Registration & Taxation
Finally in Singapore, before getting any online business live you will need to make sure you have all your paperwork in line. To register any site in Singapore you will need your business registration number and taxation codes.
With all of the above areas mentioned please seek professional advice to ensure that you are doing things correctly and stay in adherence with the law.
And…
Stick with it, it’s not rocket science (as the saying goes) you will get used to it and master all of the above in next to no time.
But what are you going to do, what type of business are you going to create, and what types of products are you going to sell?
To help you get started on your journey to freedom, we have a list of the top online business ideas.
Best Business Ideas For Singapore In 2022
Health food
Who today is not obsessed with their appearance and the concept of longevity. Every conversation with friends seems to be about the latest healthy food.
Whether you love it or hate it, health food is a massive business online, and as it’s going to keep expanding there’s plenty of room for new entrants if you fancy it.
Subscription Business
Do you fancy ongoing (near) guaranteed profits from customers who pay for your goods or services month after month?
Yes of course you do (we all do) then look no further than a subscription model business.
Subscription business can be based on physical products like wine/chocolate/vinyl/jewelry making/origami/books, the list goes on and on, or it can be based on digital products like content or monthly Zoom mentoring.
It’s a slow burner, it will take your time to get to a very profitable space, but when you get to that space, you’ll stay because it’s a goldmine.
Ecommerce
From Shopify to Amazon, the people of Singapore want and need your goods, they’re spending more and more of their hard earn dollars online…
The good news, as we mentioned earlier, is there a willingness from them to buy anything and everything online, whatever your product idea there’s a niche online for you.
Affiliate
Want a low-risk high-reward business idea. Affiliate marketing is it… Selling other people’s digital products and software for a commission. It’s one of the easiest businesses to set up online and if you get it right the profits are awesome but do expect to be creating a lot of content.
Digital Drinks Stall
Revellers want drinks 24/7 these days.
But some don’t want to go to the bar or the market to get them, they want their favorite liquor delivered to their door, at any hour.
Order online and get delivered within the hour, this type of “Lazy Consumer” business is set to boom over the next couple of years as consumers excitedly adopt the ability to purchase everything from their phones.
Livestreaming
Do you have face people trust?
Have you got a big following on social?
Do you feel comfortable in front of the camera?
Could you sell products to your audience (on social media)?
If so, Livestreaming could be the perfect side hustle for you.
Sustainable products
The population of the world has finally woken up… we need to take care of this delicate fragile planet we call home… and the good news for you is that this has created the massively lucrative sustainable products business, and this category is only going bigger as more and more customers demand sustainable products.
Edtech Solutions
There’s a revolution going on in education and it’s not happening in the classroom. Look at the success of Duolingo, more people are successfully learning a new language, with better results than in any classroom.
Duolingo is a piece of smart software called Edtech. And it’s a massive growth area (which is showing no signs of slowing), as smart tech and ideas cross-pollinate into different subject areas… So if you have a smart app idea that will make learning something/anything easier, the sky’s the limit.
The Conclusion Of Online Business In Singapore In 2022
Ecommerce in Singapore is booming, and it’s only going to get much, much bigger. Factors are aligning to see explosive growth in 2022. The last question is for you… are you ready to take advantage of this $10bn opportunity.
