Singapore’s m-commerce market jumps seven-fold to US$259M in one year

2011 has turned out to be a breakout year for mobile commerce in Singapore, says PayPal‘s Online and Mobile Shopping Insights 2011 study.

The report has revealed that the country’s mobile commerce market has grown by 660 percent reach S$328M (US$259M) last year from S4$3M (US$33M) in 2010.

The study was conducted by The Nielsen Company online using a representative sample of 1,009 Singaporean online shoppers aged 18 and above. 482 of them are mobile shoppers, which in this study means that they have shopped or made purchases using a mobile phone or tablet.

The mobile commerce market is expected to grow ten-fold to reach S$3.1B (US$2.45B) in 2015, indicating that shopping on mobile devices has become mainstream due to the ubiquity of such devices. Read more

In Singapore, PayPal experiments with QR code shopping at train stations

QR codes have taken off in a big way in the marketing world lately, and PayPal is the latest to get in on this craze.

Just recently, they launched a pilot program in Singapore’s train stations to allow locals to purchase Valentine’s Day gifts at discount using QR codes, reported AllThingsD.

To purchase a gift, commuters would need to download a QR code reader on their mobile phones to scan the right spot on the poster. They will be brought to a webpage where they can purchase the product using PayPal. The experiment is being run on 15 subway stations in Singapore. Read more

Ten QR code sins to avoid

Depending on who you speak to, QR codes are either a passing fad or the next big thing. I believe it’s somewhere in the middle.

QR codes are beginning to enter the mainstream in Singapore, driven by the mass adoption and usage of smartphones, and I expect this trend to continue in 2012.

But while critics might argue that NFC technology will supplant QR codes, I wholeheartedly disagree. Although NFC trials are slated to start in Singapore this year, I’d wager that mainstream adoption is at least one year away (depending on whether the iPhone 5 adopts NFC). It’s likely that QR codes will remain the de facto bridge between outdoor and digital marketing for some time. Read more

Now you can buy groceries by scanning QR codes — at the MRT station

Thousands of Singaporean commuters taking the train at the Bugis and Boon Lay MRT stations will be in for a Christmas surprise: They can purchase now groceries by scanning QR codes with their smartphones.

The squarish bar codes are placed next to pictures of the items, which are on a wall. Commuters will then be brought to the Cold Storage website, where they can key in their details and get the Christmas ham delivered to their homes. It’s an interesting integration of mobile commerce and ambient marketing. Read more

QropIt hopes to take QR code implementation to the next level

Usually, a QR code would bring you to a website or call up some contact information about a company or individual. While useful if well-implemented, these uses provide just a glimpse of the QR code’s potential.

Enter QropIt, a full-fledged, free-to-use QR code web app that just launched today (29th November). Led by Singapore-based web developer Chua U-Zyn and working with Korean partner Focusone, QropIt allows users to ‘like’ a Facebook page or receive coupons from merchants after scanning a QR code. The mobile app, which is coming soon, will let smartphone users find out what QR codes are nearby which may interest them.

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Which Singapore presidential candidate has the best online media campaign?

For the first time ever, online media has been used heavily by all four Singapore presidential candidates in their campaigning effort. And if you were wondering what happened at the last presidential election, well, it was held way back in 1993 — the era of Windows 3.1 and dialup modems.

Here’s some context for non-Singaporean readers: The Singapore President is very unlike the American President. He has very little executive authority (that belongs to the Prime Minister), which makes him a rather stripped down head-of-state.

There are four presidential candidates — Dr Tony Tan, Tan Kin Lian, Dr Tan Cheng Bock, and Tan Jee Say. In case you’re wondering, they all share the same surname, but the similarities don’t end there. All of them are making serious attempts at reaching out to voters through Facebook, Twitter, and their websites. We’ll run through each candidate in turn to see what they doing right or wrong. There are lessons for entrepreneurs and marketers here, so keep your eyes peeled. Read more