The Impact of E-commerce on International Ports and the Port of Singapore

The impact of E-commerce on international
ports and the port of Singapore
By
Word count: 2000 words
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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Ecommerce......................................................................................................................................3
The impact of E-commerce on international ports in general.........................................................3
New markets................................................................................................................................4
Trade pattern................................................................................................................................5
Cargo volume...............................................................................................................................6
Transshipment cargo volume.......................................................................................................8
Port industry development...........................................................................................................8
Port competition and competitiveness.......................................................................................10
The impact of E-commerce on the port of Singapore....................................................................11
Singapore ports..........................................................................................................................12
Conclusion.....................................................................................................................................13
Bibliography..................................................................................................................................15
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Introduction
This paper aims to evaluate impact of e-commerce on international port and specially Singapore
market. E-commerce has revolutionized global business industry; digitalization shapes the way
people buy or sell products in the market1. Singaporean market has most active users for online
purchase, it hold strong progress in digital implementation. This paper includes discussion on e-
commerce, impact of e-commerce on rising business for ports. It includes analysis on
international ports trade, cargo and transshipments. It also includes business and strategic
implementation by Singapore port and future strategies.
Ecommerce
E-commerce is rising at an unprecedented rate in global market; it is being used by people of all
age group. It is expected that between years 2014 to 2020 retail sales through e-commerce will
raise up to 200 percent2.
E-commerce has grown four times faster than conventional trade3. Shipping is used as point of
differentiation by companies to gain competitive advantage. Key goals of e-commerce strategies
1 Forte, D. (2014, November 10). 4 Key Trends in Global Ecommerce Growth. Retrieved March
17, 2019, , from multichannelmerchant.com: http://multichannelmerchant.com/must-reads/4-key-
trends-in-global-ecommerce-growth-10112014/
2 Maritimesgconnect. (2018). The impact of e-commerce on the maritime industry. Retrieved
March 15, 2019, from maritimesgconnect.com:
https://www.maritimesgconnect.com/features/spotlight/impact-e-commerce-maritime-industry
3 Diwan, P., & Sharma, S. (2002). E-Commerce: A Manager's Guide to E-Business. New Delhi:
Excel Books India.
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in shipping industry include increased conversion, rise in average order value to decrease cost
and to improve operational efficiency4.
The impact of E-commerce on international ports in general
E-commerce is widely impacting marine business, according to data there is 246.15 percent rise
in retail e-commerce sales; figure went from $1.3 trillion in 2014 to $4.5 trillion in 2021. E-
commerce is present in both business to business and business to customer segment. B2B
opportunities increased by three times in last two decade5. In Maritime industry, e-commerce
business also requires technological advancement and help in improving customer service. US
port manages $2 billion of domestic and international cargo annually.
To manage such huge transactions, ports are including various technological advancements.
There is convergence of various technologies and e-commerce platforms with shipping, duty and
tax calculations. Technologies help mid and small size forwarders to offer full service e-
commerce fulfillment options. Further e-commerce also helps in managing coordination, better
container tracking and documentation. It helps in overcoming post congestion issue leading to
improvement in post operations. Logistic providers are also providing data by integrating
shipment data into emails; they are also providing customers with real time order status
information.
4 Botha, J., Bothma, C. H., & Geldenhuys, P. (2008). Managing E-commerce in Business. Cape
Town: Juta and Company Ltd, .
5 Unctad. (2018). World seaborne trade. Retrieved March 14, 2019, from unctad.org:
https://stats.unctad.org/handbook/MaritimeTransport/WorldSeaborneTrade.html
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