Paypal, in its “Online and Mobile Shopping Insights 2011” study. attributed the growth to a dramatic increase in spend per head for mobile shoppers from S$93 in 2010 to S$354 in 2011. Another factor is that Internet-enabled more mobile devices are becoming a key part of Singaporeans’ daily lives.

This trend is expected to continue with the mobile commerce market in Singapore forecasted to grow ten-fold to reach S$3.1 billion in 2015.

“As we had predicted 2011 was a blockbuster year for mobile commerce in Singapore. Retailers are waking up to the fact that they need to offer ‘anytime anywhere’ mobile shopping experiences for their customers,”  said Elias Ghanem, managing director of PayPal Southeast Asia and India.

Key findings from the study:

• Mobile shopping comprised about a quarter (23%) of all online shopping in 2011, nearly six times its share (4%) of the online shopping market in 2010.

• Mobile shoppers constituted close to half (48%) of all online shoppers in 2011, compared to about one in three (29%) in 2010.

• In 2011,  880,792 Singaporeans made purchases through mobile devices, compared to 364,390 in the previous year.

• The majority (75%) of purchases made using mobile devices were via smartphones. Singaporeans spent S$244 million through their smartphones in 2011 – representing almost three-quarters of the total mobile commerce market – compared to S$82 million through tablets.

• The average spend per head on tablets was S$380, higher than the average spend per head on smartphones that amounted to S$274.

• Almost a quarter of mobile shoppers have prefereance to purchase fashion items, airline and movie tickets on-the-go with their smartphones.

• Tablet users like to purchase automotive goods and computer hardware.

• There is a clear trend in couch commerce with four out of every 10 purchases on both tablets and smartphones made at home. The office was the next common place to shop (18% of smartphone users and 11% of tablet users).

• Mobile shopping while commuting via bus/train or in transit is also popular (13% of smartphone users and 11% of tablet users).

• Quick Response (QR) codes are gaining popularity among Singapore smartphone shoppers. Four out of every ten smartphone users were aware of QR codes, and 48% in this category has used QR codes for an average of eight transactions in 2011.

• The most common items purchased through QR codes were books, fashion items and computer hardware. Curiosity (33%) combined with ease-of-use (21%) were cited as the main drivers of QR code usage.

•  Mobile shopping is much broader than just digital downloads with “fashion and accessories” and “movie tickets” hot favorites for both smartphone and tablet shoppers.