Currently, Singapore’s logistics companies are mainly third-party logistics and warehousing logistics. Singapore Post is still the main leader in local express delivery, and YCH (Yeh Yongfu Group) and Keppel (Keppel Logistics) are also leading local logistics companies in Singapore. As of the end of 2018, these three companies handled nearly 60% of local express orders, and several other international giants also accounted for nearly 30% of the market.
For sellers, the two main costs of e-commerce logistics include warehousing fees and “last mile” delivery fees, of which “last mile” delivery also includes B2C cross-border delivery. Among the six Southeast Asian countries, except for Singapore and Malaysia, it has always been a challenge for cross-border e-commerce platforms to quickly reach consumers in other countries, especially through air transport channels. Therefore, on the “last mile”, many third-party logistics will use Singapore as the logistics hub of air transport channels in Southeast Asia, and enter the other five major Southeast Asian countries, including Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and the Philippines, through air transport in Singapore. Among them, Indonesia and the Philippines are two key markets with relatively scattered land and no direct land connection with other parts of Southeast Asia. For these two countries, air and sea transport are the main channels to solve logistics problems.
As a transit point, Singapore has an advantage over other neighboring countries in terms of air transport supply chain connectivity. Therefore, if cross-border e-commerce sellers sell products of high value and often need to use air transport, in the long run, it may be a good idea to establish overseas warehouses in Singapore. However, air transport logistics is more expensive than sea transport logistics, and sellers who do not pay attention to timeliness and are more sensitive to logistics costs can directly skip Singapore when choosing a Southeast Asian logistics hub.