The COVID-19 pandemic has upended various businesses and industries. However, e-commerce is one of the very few industries that thrived despite the disruption. In fact, more and more Singapore companies turn to selling online and adopting e-commerce strategies. Read more on the latest business opportunities in Singapore.
Why? Because the pandemic has affected people’s online shopping behavior. According to the Map of E-Commerce, Shopee ranked as the number one online selling platform in Singapore. It has more than 16.1 million web visits in the last quarter of 2021. Shopee is also the leading platform in other Southeast Asian countries, such as Malaysia, Philippines, and Taiwan.
Thinking of selling on Shopee Singapore? Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to get started and tips to boost sales. But first, here are some of the reasons why you should consider selling on Shopee Singapore.
Pros and Cons of Selling on Shopee
Pros
- Easy to set up: To get started on Shopee Singapore, you’ll need an email and a phone number. You don’t need to register your business to start selling. Perhaps you already have a Shopee buyer account. Then, you already have seller access.
- High traffic channels: As previously mentioned, Shopee Singapore has over 16.1 million website visits in 2021. The Shopee marketplace is very popular and has ever-growing scales of an online presence. This will help your online business get noticed by your target market.
- Good Shipping Terms: Shopee Singapore has powerful logistics. They have reliable shipping terms, including a return policy. In fact, their return policy is simple and fast.
- Easily set up your own website and payment gateway with little to no fees: Setting up an e-commerce website can be expensive on your own. But with Shopee marketplace, you don’t have to worry about setting up a website or a payment gateway. You can just register and get started right away
- Conveniently talk with buyers on Shopee: One of Shopee’s best features is its chat functionality. Buyers can easily contact sellers and inquire about the products.
Cons
- Tough competition: There are more than 11,000 sellers in 7 markets. That said, competition on the platform can be challenging. So sellers may need to drive prices down to compete which can lead to lower profit margins.
- No outside-the-border transactions: Sellers are unable to sell their products outside of Singapore.
- Payment fee: Shopee has started imposing a payment fee on all sales. Aside from the payment fee, you get to keep the rest of your profits.
How To Sell on Shopee Singapore
To become a Shopee seller, you’ll need to have an email account and a mobile number. You can apply either on the desktop website or through the Shopee app. Here’s a quick guide on how to set up your Shopee account, list your products, and start selling on Shopee.
Let’s get started!
Step 1: Create a Shopee Account
Don’t have a Shopee account?
First, you’ll have to download the Shopee App from Google Play Store or Apple App Store. On the mobile app, you can sign up with your Facebook details, email address, or phone number. Fill up additional relevant details and verify your email address or phone number.
Choose a business username and profile picture. In doing so, buyers will be more inclined to trust your business and buy your products. Most importantly, check the prohibited list to ensure that your products do not break any rules.
What if I already have a Shopee buyer account?
You can log in directly to Shopee Singapore’s Seller Centre page.
Step 2: List Your Products
After setting up your account, the next step is listing your products.
On the Shopee app, click the “Me” icon at the bottom right corner of the app. Tap the “Selling” tab to access the Seller Centre. From there, tap the “Add New Product” to start listing products.
You’ll need to upload the product photos and fill up specifications and other relevant details. To upload a photo, click Add Photo. You can either take a photo directly through the app or choose an existing image from your mobile’s gallery.
Other details you may need to fill in include:
- Product name
- Product description
- Category
- Price
- Stock
- Variations
- Shipping fee
When you’ve completed all the details, simply press “Publish” and your product will be live in your Shopee store.
Step 3: Select Shipping Methods
Don’t forget to add the product weight and shipping option. Here are the Shopee Supported Logistic partners:
- Shopee Xpress
- Speedpost Economy (SingPost)
- Ninja Van
- J&T Express
- UrbanFox
- uParcel
Step 4: Payment Methods on Shopee
Shopee offers different payment methods, such as debit or credit cards, PayNow, and DBS PayLah! On top of these, customers also have the option to use ShopeePay – the online platform’s digital wallet.
Note that if the customer chose to pay through a credit card, Shopee will hold the payments until the Shopee seller fulfills the entire order.
Tips To Boost Sales
It’s not enough to simply list your products on the Shopee mobile app and forget about it. With hundreds of competitors on the Shopee mobile app, sellers need to find ways to stand out. The most crucial step is to get customers to find your products and buy them.
Here are a few tips to boost sales:
1. Optimize Your Store and Product Listings
If your store or product listings do not appear in the first few pages of a customer’s search result, you’ll have a lower chance of getting a sale. That said, you need to optimize your listings by making use of popular SEO keywords in your product titles, headlines, and description.
Here are a few tips for optimization:
- Brand Name + Product Model + Specifications + Size + Additional SEO keywords
- Gender + Specifications + Product + Additional SEO keywords
- Specification + Product + SEO keywords
2. Join My Campaign
Another way to boost your sales is through the “My Campaigns” feature. This allows Shopee sellers to nominate products that can be featured on main or category pages. So what are the benefits?
- Your nominated products will appear on campaign banners on desktop and Shopee mobile apps.
- Your nominated product will be included in Shopee’s email blast and targeted push notification.
Using this feature is free of charge. However, the nominated products will be evaluated and approved.
3. List Your Business on Shopee Mall
Boosting your store and product exposure is a great way to earn sales. However, you also need to earn the trust of your potential customers. One way to build brand credibility is by listing your business on Shopee Mall.
Shopee Mall is a by-invite-only premium retail space. It is also created for Shopee Singapore’s top sellers and official brands. So how do you become a Shopee Mall seller?
You need to be a brand owner or an authorized distributor. Here are a few platform policies you need to comply with:
- Sell only 100% authentic items
- Support a 15-day return/refund policy
- Activate free shipping for all buyers
You must also follow mall listing requirements and must have less than 30% of your listings on pre-order mode.
4. Join Flash Sales
But first, what is a Shopee Flash Deal?
It is a popular promotional event that offers customers attractive deals available for a limited time only. This generates interest in promoted products and creates a sense of urgency. That said, it is a highly effective marketing strategy.
In fact, flash deals on Shopee receive an average of 4,000 views per timing. This level of exposure is unbeatable. Participating in a Shopee Flash Deal will result in:
- More views, clicks, and sales
- Higher chances of products getting sold out
- More shop visits
- Boost product exposure
5. Advertise
Want to rank higher on Shopee’s search results? Try running a Shopee advertising campaign using the “My Ads” tool.
You have two advertising campaign options to choose from:
- Keyword ads: You will bid for relevant keywords to their products. This will help ensure that your product listing will show up along with suggested products when a buyer enters those keywords.
- Targeting ads: You will bid for a slot in the “Similar Products” feature so your advertised products will show up on the page alongside products related or similar to your items.
When running an advertising campaign, make sure to manage duration, budget, bid price, and other relevant details.
6. Create Vouchers
Customers love vouchers – anything that helps them save money on purchases or allows them to enjoy additional perks. For this reason, creating vouchers will help boost your sales.
With Shopee Singapore, you can create and customize vouchers. For example, you can create discount vouchers or free shipping vouchers that buyers can use when they meet the minimum amount. You can also create discounts for followers.
7. Post Authentic Photos
One of the limitations of e-commerce platforms is that buyers can’t physically check and scrutinize the products. That’s why it’s crucial to take authentic photos of your products. However, you still need to make your photos look visually appealing.
Here are a few tips:
- Take photos in a well-lit place
- Take multiple shots of the same product from different angles
- Upload high-resolution photos
Pair high-quality photos with detailed product descriptions. Whenever possible, include relevant information, such as product specifications and features. Lastly, come up with a catchy, optimized product name.
What Does Shopee Charge Its Sellers?
Just like other e-commerce platforms, such as Lazada and Amazon, sellers on Shopee Singapore will also incur fees:
Transaction Fees
This is charged to all sellers on successful orders. A fee of 2% of the final payment amount, including the shipping fee made by a buyer, after deducting any Shopee vouchers or Shopee Coins applied. The amount is rounded up to two decimal places.
On top of that, a 7% GST is also applicable to the transaction amount as per local laws.
Service Fee
A service fee is charged to sellers who sign up for the Cashback and Free Shipping programs. Sellers are charged a percentage of the cost of goods sold on an item level when the order is placed. The fee charged will vary depending on the type of seller you are and the program you signed up for.
You can learn more about service fees here.
Commission Fee
A commission fee is charged to all Shopee Singapore sellers. It is based on the price of a product and is an additional charge on top of existing service and transaction fees.
For orders placed from 1 May 2022 will be charged a commission fee, whether the product is sold by Mall or Non-Mall sellers.
Non-Mail sellers who have been registered on Shopee for less than 90 days, commission fees will not be charged to orders received before the 90-day period ends.
Note: Commission fees are charged on the product price before Shopee or shipping promotions are applied.
You can learn more about commission fees here.
How To Become a Shopee Preferred Seller
Shopee Preferred Sellers are a group of sellers exclusively selected by Shopee due to their excellent sales and operational performance. This group of sellers was able to provide their buyers an enhanced shipping experience. Preferred Sellers are known to:
- Have high shop ratings
- Provide excellent customer service
- Ship out orders quickly and efficiently
Your shop and product listings will get an orange badge if you become a Preferred Seller. But why should you aim to become one?
- Gain buyer’s trust: Most buyers prefer to purchase items from Preferred Sellers because they believe that your products and services are of high quality.
- Boost your search rankings: Preferred sellers rank better on search results, so they can reach more buyers
- Preferred Seller exclusive rates for Shopee Flash Deal slots: Receive a voucher to purchase 3 Flash Deals lots at 50% off. Terms and conditions apply. You can sign up here.
- Additional bonus paid ads credit: To qualify, your auto-top up feature must be enabled for 30 days. You can learn more here.
So how do you become a Preferred Seller?
Meet the following criteria monthly:
| Areas of Performance | Onboard Target |
| Unique buyers (last 30 days) | ≥10 |
| Net orders (last 30 days) | ≥30 |
| Chat response rate | ≥75% |
| Shop rating (all-time) | ≥4.6 |
| Non-fulfilment Rate (last 7 days) | ≤4.99% |
| Late Shipment Rate (last 7 days) | ≤4.99% |
| Current number of seller penalty points | ≤0 |
| Number of days during which the percentage of active pre-order listings exceeds 10% (last 30 days) | ≤0 |
(Table from Shopee Singapore)
- Follow Shopee Singapore’s Community Rules and give your buyers an enhanced shopping experience.
- Strictly follow Shopee Policies. For one, you need to be familiar with and apply the return/refund guidelines. Secondly, you must follow the rules regarding the selling of prohibited or restricted items.
Sellers who fail to comply with these requirements will have their Preferred Seller status removed at the sole discretion of Shopee.
Other Questions You May Still Have
Do I Need To Register Business To Start Selling on Shopee?
Unlike other e-commerce platforms, you don’t need to register your business to sell on Shopee. However, you may need to register and pay a fee of S$315 to be listed on Shopee Mall. This is required by Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
You can still earn and thrive on the e-commerce platform even without Shopee Mall. So you can start selling without registering your business with ACRA.
How Do I Ship My Orders Through Shopee Supported Logistics?
First, you need to enable Shopee Supported Logistics.
- Go to Seller Center > Shop Settings > My Addresses. Make sure to add a valid address and tap “Set as Pickup Address”
- Go to Seller Center > Shop Settings > My Shipping. Toggle on your preferred Shopee Supported Logistic option(s).
- Go to Seller Center > My Products. Select the products and on the Shipping section, toggle on the Shopee Supported Logistic Option.
- Tap Update at the bottom right corner of the page.
Here’s a quick overview of Shopee’s fulfillment process.
- Pick-up: The logistics partner will send a driver to your listed pickup address to collect packed orders.
- Drop-off: Seller has to transport the packed orders to the logistics partner’s drop-off location/point
You can learn more about shipping your orders here.
How Do I Get Paid on Shopee?
After completing an order, payments will be credited to your Seller Balance. You can withdraw the credits to your listed bank account automatically or manually.
When is the money credited to my Seller Balance?
You will see it in your Seller Balance within 2 to 3 business days when:
- The buyer confirms the order has been received or
- Shopee Guarantee Period ends
Can I Sell on Shopee Singapore if I Live Overseas?
Yes, you can sell locally in Shopee Singapore even if you are located overseas. Sellers based in another location and selling their products from any Shopee-supported country are known as Shopee cross-border sellers. This means Shopee sellers from China can reach buyers from Singapore.
However, your applications will be reviewed before you can start selling.
- For sellers based in China or Hong Kong, apply via Shopee’s cross-border platform.
- Sellers based in other locations may fill up this survey form.
How Do I Get More Views on My Shopee Product?
You can use the “Boost Now” function.
- Go to the “Me” page > My Shope > My Products and look for your product listings.
- Choose the product(s) you wish to boost visibility, and tap on “Boost Now”.
You can boost up to 5 products every four hours. By using this feature, you can boost the views of your product which can also positively impact the product ranking. Another option is to run Shopee ads to reach more potential buyers.
Closing
Today, buyers are more likely to use e-commerce platforms, such as Shopee, to buy what they want. As a seller, you can sign up on Shopee and enjoy built-in tools and features to reach new audiences. When done successfully, you can boost your sales with minimal fees.
Key Takeaways
- To become a Shopee seller, you’ll need to have an email account and a mobile number.
- You may need to register and pay a fee of S$315 to be listed on Shopee Mall as required by Singapore’s Accounting and Corporate Regulatory Authority (ACRA).
- Boost your sales by optimizing your listings by making use of popular SEO keywords in your product titles, headlines, and description.
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