Nearly half of Singapore’s small and medium enterprises (SMEs) have adopted artificial intelligence (AI) tools or automation in their operations, according to a new survey by Lalamove, as faster business processes drive rising demand for faster, more flexible delivery ahead of 2027.
The survey of more than 300 business users in Singapore found that 35 per cent are optimistic about the country’s business prospects in 2027 — the single largest group — while a further 21 per cent expect conditions to stay unchanged. Together, more than half of respondents anticipate stability or growth in the year ahead, even as a third reported higher transportation and logistics costs in 2026.
AI adoption is speeding up operations
48 per cent of SMEs surveyed currently use AI tools or automation in some part of their operations, with a further 17 per cent actively considering adoption. Among those already using AI, 31 per cent said their operations were running slightly faster and 21 per cent said much faster — meaning more than half reported a meaningful acceleration in how quickly they need to move. Current usage is concentrated in marketing and content creation, administration, customer service, workflow automation and sales.
Faster businesses are driving same-day delivery demand
That faster pace is feeding through to delivery expectations. Among respondents whose logistics needs were changing, 20 per cent cited customers expecting faster delivery as a key driver, alongside more last-minute orders and business expansion. On-demand or same-day deliveries saw the sharpest rise in demand compared with 2025, cited by 44 per cent of respondents, followed by multi-stop deliveries (22 per cent) and fixed-price moving services (15 per cent).
Furniture and household goods topped the list of items being moved (33 per cent), followed by home appliances and electronics (28 per cent), food and groceries (25 per cent), and documents and files (22 per cent).
Affordable pricing remains the deciding factor
Despite the push for speed, cost still dominates how SMEs choose a delivery partner: 70 per cent named affordable pricing as their most important factor, well ahead of safe delivery (52 per cent), and transparent pricing and delivery speed, which tied at 42 per cent.
“What stands out from this survey is not simply that SMEs are adopting more technology, but that the window between a customer request and the expectation to fulfil it is getting shorter. A digital process can happen in seconds, but the product still needs to physically move from one place to another,” said Alex Lin, managing director of Lalamove Singapore.
Lin added that on-demand logistics gives SMEs room to respond to that pressure “without taking on unnecessary fixed costs,” particularly when demand spikes or urgent orders come in.
