Singapore and Malaysia are the ideal testing grounds for merchants who want to expand their business internationally and explore the potential of Asia.

That’s according to a study organised by the Financial Study Association Amsterdam which concludes that even though the e-commerce markets in Singapore and Malaysia are relatively small compared to China (US$190 billion) and Japan (US$64 billion), the two smaller countries stand out with respect to the size of the cross-border share of the e-commerce market. Thus they offer unique e-commerce propositions which will help merchants to adapt locally and understand the particularities of this rapidly growing e-commerce region.

The study says an estimated 55 per cent of all e-commerce in Singapore and 40 per cent of all Malaysian e-commerce is cross-border, an extremely high percentage compared to figures for Japan (18 per cent) and South Korea (25 per cent).

Moreover, Singapore and Malaysia offer international companies a fertile entrepreneurial environment, a developed digital landscape and very advanced IT infrastructure to successfully test and adapt their products and marketing strategies, and therefore establish a strong foothold in Southeast Asia.

“The multicultural, multilingual nature of both societies and their developed e-commerce ecosystem represent a perfect landscape for e-commerce companies with the ambition to expand into Southeast Asia and, in a next phase, to tap into well-established Asian e-commerce markets,” said Marrit Teirlinck, researcher FSA.

“Over the last years, e-commerce has been growing rapidly throughout the region and Singapore is turning into a regional e-commerce hub. With more than 60 million people browsing the web, Southeast Asia is a significant market for e-commerce businesses.”