Singapore retail sales slide overall while E-commerce goes up

Singapore retail sales – excluding motor vehicles – fell 4.5 percent y-o-y last Dec, a slightly higher decline than Nov’s 2.8 percent. M-o-m sales were down 0.7 percent. DOS estimates total retail sales value at SGD3.5 billion (US$2.62 billion) and that online retail sales accounted for 12.6 percent of that. The strongest categories online were computer and telecommunications equipment, accounting for 35.2 percent of the category’s overall turnover, furniture and homewares (23.4 percent) and supermarkets (11.8 percent).

Most retail industry categories posted declines in sales in Dec on a y-o-y basis. However, supermarkets and hypermarkets, computer and telecommunications equipment, and furniture and homewares recorded growth rates of between 20.8 percent and 25.3 percent, due mainly to higher sales of groceries, mobile phones and household appliances respectively.

Sales of recreational goods rose 10.3 percent, largely driven by strong demand for sporting goods. Sales of F&B services fell 16.5 percent in Dec, y-o-y, which was a lesser rate than Nov’s 22.4 percent decline. Online orders made up 19.9 percent of the estimated total spend of $800 million.