Singapore Retailers Embrace AI; Consumers Are More Cautious

Singapore's retail AI adoption masks a critical trust deficit. While 99% of merchants use AI, 58% of consumers resist agentic AI for transactions. This gap reflects real financial losses. E-commerce scams rose 19.3% in H1 2026. This cost Singaporeans SGD 8.3 million. Merchants face their own challenges. Only 23% have unified data for real-time AI. The remaining 77% rely on fragmented data. This leads to poor shopper experience.

The consumer apprehension directly impacts fintech and retail in Singapore. Companies pushing agentic AI must prioritize fraud prevention. A 108% year-on-year increase in AI spending to 15.4% of IT budgets shows commitment. But this investment is at risk if consumers do not trust the systems. The rise in payment fraud, affecting 84% of merchants, further erodes confidence. Singapore's digitally savvy population, with 166% mobile penetration, expects seamless and secure experiences.

The thing to watch is whether Singaporean businesses can close this trust gap by 2027. ServiceNow reported 51% enterprise AI agent adoption in 2026. This doubled from 22% in 2025. This rapid internal adoption must translate to consumer-facing security. If retailers fail to build trust, the significant investment in AI will yield limited returns. Consumer hesitation will stall the full potential of agentic AI in the market.