Media Releases

SINGAPORE, 25 April 2019 – Today, eBay and the Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS) joined forces to deliver training to small businesses and entrepreneurs seeking new and global sales channels in the fast-growing eCommerce sector. Titled “Let’s eBay with SIRS”, the full-day workshop was held at the Lifelong Learning Institute, one of two Continuing Education and Training (CET) campuses by SkillsFuture Singapore. To offer SMEs in Singapore a holistic support system to grow their businesses globally and sustainably, eBay and SIRS signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) focused on Global e-Commerce Onboarding & Education Programs.
 

Singapore’s eCommerce market is expected to grow by 48% to S$10.04 billion by 2022, and a rising number of entrepreneurial Singaporeans are capitalising on the opportunity to sell their products directly to customers all around the world on eBay.
 

According to eBay Head of Southeast Asia Seller Growth Wong Mei Inn, “Singapore’s cross border trade (CBT) exports continue to grow and there is huge opportunity for more small businesses to join the ranks of eBay sellers. By listing their products on eBay’s global marketplace, Singaporean businesses can reach 180 million active buyers all around the world.”
 

“Let’s eBay with SIRS was designed for the small business and entrepreneur who has little or no ecommerce experience but wants to learn directly from the source,” said Wong.
 

“eBay has thousands of sellers here in Singapore and over 80% of them sell to customers overseas. eBay’s focus in Singapore this year is to enable even more SMEs to sell worldwide”, said Jenny Hui, General Manager, Cross Border Trade, eBay Hong Kong, Taiwan and Southeast Asia.
 

“eCommerce has been recognised as one of the key growth opportunities under the 2020 vision of the Retail Industry Transformation Map launched by SPRING Singapore (now Enterprise Singapore),” said Nanyang Polytechnic’s Singapore Institute of Retail Studies Director Megan Ong. “By partnering eBay, we will be able to encourage retailers in Singapore to adopt eCommerce and omni-channel strategies to succeed in today’s digital context.”
 

Small medium enterprises (SMEs) contribute to 72% of Singapore’s employment, and in 2018, added a nominal value of S$213.6 billion, or 48% to the economy. The government has acknowledged the importance of SMEs plugging into the digital economy as it would make a noticeable impact on Singapore’s economic growth.
 

During the workshop, Let’s eBay with SIRS featured speakers from eBay, SIRS, WorldFirst, Watcheszon International, JTBC Global and DHL Express Singapore. The speakers shared case studies, advice on getting started, and introductions to payments and logistics service providers to help small businesses begin their global ecommerce journey.
 

Following the workshop, eBay has launched the “eBay Onboarding Program”, a series of courses with SIRS to further enable SMEs to optimise cross-border selling and manage operations. Each course will be charged at $160, and subsidies range from 70-95%. For more information on the courses and available subsidies, visit https://www.sirsdigitalcommerce.com/ebay.html or email SIRS at courses@sirs.edu.sg
 

About eBay

eBay Inc. (NASDAQ: EBAY) is a global commerce leader including the Marketplace, StubHub and Classifieds platforms. Collectively, we connect millions of buyers and sellers around the world, empowering people and creating opportunity for all. Founded in 1995 in San Jose, Calif., eBay is one of the world's largest and most vibrant marketplaces for discovering great value and unique selection. In 2018, eBay enabled $95 billion of gross merchandise volume. For more information about the company and its global portfolio of online brands, visit www.ebayinc.com.
 

About Nanyang Polytechnic’s Singapore Institute of Retail Studies

The Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (SIRS) is a Continuing Education & Training (CET) institute of Nanyang Polytechnic (NYP). SIRS is the first CET centre set up in January 2006 by the (then) Singapore Workforce Development Agency in partnership with NYP. SIRS has been conferred the National CET Institute (NCI) status, the pinnacle status for CET centres, since January 2011. In 2016, SIRS was appointed as the Anchor Provider for the retail industry to support retailers to improve business performance through holistic enablement solutions including consultancy, executive programmes, applied research, training, and recruitment/placement services such as the Professional Conversion Programme. SIRS is also the Programme Manager for the Retail Earn & Learn Programme and Lean Enterprise Development Multiplier.