Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Singapore are well-positioned to benefit from the significant increase in e-commerce activities resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. In particular, cross-border e-commerce provides an additional opportunity for MSMEs to participate in global markets by leveraging Singapore’s strong foundations in the digital economy and its internationally recognized and trusted national brand.
In 2022, the value of Singapore’s business-to-consumer (B2C) e-commerce exports amounted to SGD1.7 billion. Our analysis indicates that if MSMEs can accelerate the adoption of e-commerce for exporting their products and services over the next five years, e-commerce export revenues could reach SGD3.9 billion by 2027. Additionally, the share of revenues earned by MSMEs could increase from 45% in 2022 to 69% in 2027.
According to our survey of 300 Singaporean MSMEs engaged in e-commerce, 82% of them believe that without e-commerce, they would not be able to export. MSMEs also highly value the digital features that come with e-commerce, as they facilitate their access to foreign countries and simplify interactions with international consumers.
Still, MSMEs have identified some barriers to using e-commerce to export overseas, namely those relating to costs and regulatory issues. While there are many favourable policies and initiatives in place to develop e-commerce activity in the country, they would like to see further support to address the high costs of cross-border logistics as well as greater regulatory support on digital trade.
Please read the full report to find out more.
