National University of Singapore

The missing link in B2C e-commerce in Singapore

Many market research companies forecast that business to consumer (âB2Câ�?) e-commerce will register higher growth rates in the coming years due to the rapid increase in Internet penetration and IT literacy globally. Singapore possesses high Internet penetration and IT literacy. In 2004, Singapore ranked 7th in e-readiness, ahead of other countries in the Asia Pacific region such as Hong Kong (9th), Japan (25th), Korea (14th), Australia (12th) and New Zealand (19th). Singapore has the legal and policy framework, infrastructure, and capabilities to promote the use of the Internet and the governance of e-commerce. However, at 9%, Singapore ranked lower than the other countries such as Korea (12%) and New Zealand (14%) in the level of B2C e-commerce participation.

Most research has focused on the factors affecting the willingness of consumers to participate in e-commerce in Singapore. My thesis will explore the business side and attempt to identify the reasons for the low level of e-commerce participation among businesses by (i) studying the level of awareness of the e-commerce regulatory framework among Singapore's businesses, (ii) assessing whether there is a divide between what business expect the government to do to promote e-commerce and what the government is actually doing; (iii) determining if e-commerce businesses in Singapore are following established principles of security and privacy, building trust with customers and providing good customer service and, (iv) ascertaining if cost, market size and culture may account for the low level of e-commerce participation. Thus, my research seeks to identify the missing link in B2C e-commerce in Singapore.