Gen Zers lead the way in Singapore’s online shopping space

SINGAPORE — As more businesses turn to social media to sell their merchandise, online shoppers in Singapore are exploring new buying experiences — and Gen Zers are leading the way.

According to a 2023 report by Meta and Bain & Company on Southeast Asia’s digital consumer landscape, 72% of Gen Zers in Singapore prefer to shop online.

Gen Zers, typically born between 1997 and 2012, are leading other generations in discovering, evaluating and buying online, with 45% doing so via social media, the report showed.

Many social media sites have introduced e-commerce features on their platforms, providing an alternative to popular online shopping sites like Lazada and Shopee. For example, users can purchase directly from TikTok shop or Facebook Marketplace without navigating outside of the application.

Shopping on social media contributes to the social commerce industry, which is poised to grow substantially in Singapore over the next five years and estimated to reach $6.99 billion by 2028, according to a report last year published on Research and Markets.

Gen Zers prefer to shop on TikTok and Instagram instead of Facebook, which is more popular with older generations, a 2023 survey by British analytics firm YouGov showed.

In Southeast Asia, more than 15 million businesses use TikTok to promote their work to an audience of 325 million monthly users, the content platform said in a release.

Videos that use entertainment and informational value to drive online purchases, also known as “shoppertainment,” have created a market on the platform worth $500 billion today, according to a 2022 report by TikTok.

Such a strategy enables businesses to attract buyers by creating fun, credible and inspiring content which meet customers’ emotional needs, TikTok said.

The emotional engagement of…