E-commerce in Singapore has started to boom since the mid-2010s with new technology as the internet is becoming more accessible to the residents of Singapore, causing it to account for twenty percent of all retail sales in comparison to when it only accounted for five percent in 2016 (Arora et al., 2022). Singapore has a high efficacy of one hundred percent in e-commerce and logistic development making it one of the few countries in the Asian-Pacific region to operate at full efficiency (Maritime Economics & Logistics, 2020). The government of Singapore developed Information Communication Technology (ICT) for business firms to operate in one section and the development of Infocomm Development Authority (IDA) within ICT to help firms switch to e-commerce, increase exports, help facilitate international relationships, and nurture e-business(Erh, 2023). The development of IDA in the ICT sector allows for a boost in entrepreneurship and innovation in firms and ICT. Singapore has been using augmented reality (AR) to help overcome e-commerce’s biggest struggle of purchasing products online by creating a simulation that allows customers to interact with the product before purchasing it (Chandra and Kumar, 2018). AR is helping improve the customer user experience by allowing customers to test a product in a simulation and determine if the product suits them.
Singapore is a country whose retail industry greatly impacts its economy. To meet demands and make this sector run as efficiently as possible, Singapore employs the use of big data analytical technology to assist with trend forecasting. Trend forecasting is a must in Singapore, especially when a boost in overseas retailers expanding into Singapore causes congestion in the retail sector (Chen, 2019). One of the obstacles retailers in Singapore face is accurately forecasting trends to meet demand as effectively as possible. One way a specific retailer chose to challenge this problem is by using a new accuracy metric for intermittent demand forecasting called revised mean absolute scaled error (RMASE) to accurately forecast the demand for each SKU at stores to better determine the most optimal delivery channels to use (Li & Lim, 2018). Another method retailers use big data to have an accurate insight into trends is through big data management analytics specifically focused on social media, this has proven effective in forecasting retail trends in Singapore (Ying et. al, 2021). Through the use of big data, retailers can make well-informed business decisions to keep their stores running as efficiently as possible in such a profitable market as the Singapore retail space.
