To seize future opportunities, companies that are selling online need to build on infrastructure that support their businesses, said James Root, senior partner and chairman at Bain Futures, a global think tank of consulting firm Bain & Company.
"E-commerce platforms need two pieces of infrastructure: They need great digital payment. The second thing is that they need great supply chain," he told CNBC. "And that's both to manage cross-border products coming into a market like Singapore, having swift customs clearance and easy paper processing for that."
"In-market capabilities that are appropriate" are also needed, Root said.
"For example, parcel delivery spots that are near the big blocks of housing, and very good last mile transportation to get products into the hands of consumers at the sorts of speeds that we're educating our consumers to start to expect now," he elaborated.