Mounting concerns over the coronavirus pandemic in Singapore is having an impact on online consumer behaviour. The prospect of being trapped at home for weeks has seen people embark on a work-from-home setup and other activities.
As movement is being restricted in Singapore, consumers turn online to purchase items.
As such, we were able to observe really unique and unexpected items consumers were interested in after analysing more than hundreds of thousands of shoppers on iPrice.sg. As a result, the demand for unexpected products under categories such as healthcare, electronics, gaming, home & livings, appliances, and drinks have soared since February.
Safety is important
We probably are not surprised that vitamin C, face masks or hand sanitisers are what people are looking for online. But how many of us thought that Singaporeans was searching high and low for condoms too? Data reveals that searches for condoms shot up to 67 per cent in the week of March 23.
Consumers scrambling to set up a home office
Though Singaporeans are socially distancing from each other, being socially connected with close family, friends and colleagues via online has been at an all-time high. Driving this new norm, we saw that consumers were searching high and low in interest for items such as webcams, Wifi routers, printers, and keyboards.
According to iPrice’s data, we recorded that there is an 85 per cent increase in searches for webcams and 99 per cent for Wifi routers. On the other hand, the increase of search interests for keyboards and printers also jumped by 137 per cent and 67 per cent respectively, in the week of March 23 and March 29. This has shown that Singaporeans are searching on mindfulness materials for a work-related purpose.
Contagious rise of gaming
The gaming industry today has experienced immense attention as people are looking for more ways to stay entertained at home. The World Health Organisation (WHO) has been highly supportive of gaming though declaring video games addiction a mental health disorder a year ago.
As such, our data shows that entertainment items such as video games consoles and TV were recorded to have the highest searches during this COVID-19 period. This may indicate that most Singaporeans have turned to gaming as the new digital hangout option.
Observing gaming related items such as Nintendo Switch and PS4 since March 1 and 12, our data reveals that PS4 and Switch saw an amazing improvement in interest by 713 per cent and 57 per cent respectively, while TV experienced an over 35 per cent increase in searches.
Cooking at home
Now that most of us are cooped up in our homes, this presents an exciting opportunity to try out new recipes and home-made food after getting bored with packed foods. Our data also reveals that the interest of searches on cooking equipment such as cookware, dish racks, and rice dispensers grew by 57 per cent.
Practicing good hygiene at your kitchen and any surfaces in your house is also highly important especially during this global pandemic. Therefore, Singaporeans also seem to be searching for disinfectant related items such as Dettol more than ever as it was recorded to increase massively by 127 per cent. This probably shows that average households are stocking up hygiene products to ensure a clean environment at home.
Also Read: Afternoon News Roundup: Malaysian e-commerce aggregator iPrice raises US$10M Series B financing
Caffeine and alcohol
With “stay at home” as our new mantra, scheduling regular breaks for stepping out of your isolation bubble is needed to continue your work effectively.
It turned out that most Singaporeans were also looking for coffee and alcohol to create an experience of re-grouping after spending time on tasks, which suggests these items are pretty essential as well during this “circuit breaker” mode.
Our data reveals that the increase in searches of coffee was recorded a 107 per cent upsurge growth in interest and followed by alcohol that experienced a 47 per cent increase as well.
One of the many potential reasons that led Singaporeans to consume these was to ease the stresses and help kill the time during this period.
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