Jeff Bezos’ Amazon is probably the world’s single largest online marketplace right now. Black Friday or not, they offer some of the most competitive prices around for products.
For many years, online shopping-savvy Singaporeans have been buying from Amazon.com – they are the ones who heralded an online revolution, making online shopping cool yet convenient.
So it comes as no surprise that when rumours swirled that Amazon is trying to set up base in Singapore, online shoppers here were basically rejoicing, and counting down to the day that this will officially be a reality.
Techcrunch puts the first quarter of 2017 as the most likely time that Amazon will unveil its presence in Singapore – and that’s just two months away! What we know so far is that they have been hiring, and finding warehouse space.
So when all that’s done, here’s what we can probably expect:
Amazon.com.sg
Well, the first thing we are going to get is probably an Amazon.com.sg portal. This is probably the single, most important reason for consumers to want Amazon in Singapore in the first place.
Having our own ‘.sg’ Amazon portal means we are a legit part of the entire Amazon ecosystem. It also means that we will have some other added benefits as well – everything Amazon has in stock will soon be at our fingertips, so say goodbye to the sinking feeling that comes when nothing on your wishlist can be shipped here!
Prices In Singapore Dollars
Across all of Amazon’s global sites, prices are quite similar and competitive. So having our own portal will let us see the prices of products in Singapore Dollars.
No more headache of converting currencies with Amazon, Paypal and Banks, given that they all have vastly different currency conversion rates. With prices now stated in our local currency, we know what we are paying for – outright.
Shorter Delivery Time
You probably would have heard by now that Amazon just leased some massive warehouse space over in Jurong. We covered a bit on the rumours in a previous article here.
With that warehouse now part of Amazon’s logistics chain, locally-sourced products can be stored there while awaiting purchase.
Need something urgently? If Amazon Prime arrives in Singapore – you may just get same day deliveries.
FREE Delivery
More important than the fact that we’ll probably get to enjoy shorter turnarounds in deliveries, is that Free Delivery will now likely be available across the board for eligible items.
At the moment, Singaporeans can only enjoy Free International Shipping if you spend a minimum of US$125 in a single order, and even then, not everything may be eligible for the free delivery option even when you hit the minimum spend.
With Amazon.com.sg, gone are the days of tearing your hair out trawling the site for filler items just to hit that golden US$125 minimum.
Amazon Fresh
While the service is already available in selected cities in the United States and London, UK, Amazon still hasn’t quite figured out the secret sauce to cracking into the groceries market.
How Amazon Fresh works is basically through a partnership with local specialty stores for delivery of local items.
Sounds familiar? That’s because in Singapore, Honestbee is already doing that. With Lazada’s recent acquisition of Redmart, Amazon is entering a market with two mature players already in the local scene.
Amazon Prime
Everyone knows Amazon Prime as the subscription membership that will get you express next day shipping, and invites to first dibs on some exclusive deals and products.
Beyond that Amazon is also shaping it to become a direct competitior to Netflix. A section of Amazon Prime is now home to Amazon Video, where it is home to not just third party content comprising of your favourite TV shows, but also “Amazon Original Series”.
The most hyped Amazon original to have been released this past weekend is motoring show, The Grand Tour, hosted former Top Gear hosts Jeremy Clarkson, Richard Hammond and James May.
Looks like it will be a busy first quarter for Amazon and online shoppers in Singapore – just that maybe, you’ll be getting your Chinese New Year shopping done on Amazon.com.sg.
