Many retailers do not believe going online till Covd19 happens

[abbby]

I think many retailers do not believe in taking their businesses online till Covid19 hits. I am quite surprised even shops like Metro (paltry online shopping), Marks and Spencers (not a single online shopping presence) did not take on selling online with large product options online.

[Max Headroom]

It's been baffling me for 15 years. When I arrived from Europe all those years ago, most of SME there was already online and doing brisk business. I assumed that a much younger and more wired country like Singapore would be way ahead.

To this day, it's still very far behind in terms of SME virtual presence.

I'm aware that small countries may not be as conducive for this kind of thing, but with a decent website going dirt-cheap these days and maintenance (hosting, data traffic etc) a fraction of what it was back then, being online is a real no-brainer to me, small country or not, especially since online shopping numbers are still growing, at the expense of brick and mortar.

Of course, now, with Covid, not being online is biting all of the non-believers in the butt big-time.

[Myasis Dragon]

They also haven't figured out that calling your business, "Wah Joo Seng Trading, Pte Ltd", doesn't exactly provide much illumination as to what business the proprietor is in. Is he selling electronics? Hardware? Dead rats in a box?

[x9200]

It's been baffling me for 15 years. When I arrived from Europe all those years ago, most of SME there was already online and doing brisk business. I assumed that a much younger and more wired country like Singapore would be way ahead.

I think this was about the culture... many locals preferred to touch the items (see them first hand) before buying them. I also had the impression they wanted to be convinced by the selling staff the choice they made was right.
For me it was also about the culture: the problem of selling semi-used goods and having no control whatsoever when the items were going to arrived - more protective pro-consumer law / instruments are also relatively new to Singapore.
Now, when some critical mass for the on-line retailers is already reached these problems are not that common but still around.
And there are other problems (reliability) and they get actually worse. Covid19 made them amplified.