Amazon launches its Prime membership service in Singapore

Amazon launches its Prime membership service in Singapore


Amazon is increasing its focus on Southeast Asia after the e-commerce giant launched its Prime service in Singapore.

The U.S. firm landed in Singapore, its first market in Southeast Asia, in July initially offering Prime Now, its e-commerce service with an aggressive two-hour delivery window. From this week, however, it is offering its full Prime bundle which includes free international shipping on orders over SG$40 and subscriptions to its Prime Video service and Prime Twitch offering.

This launch will put pressure on Lazada, the e-commerce site owned by Alibaba, which is Amazon’s primary competitor in Southeast Asia.

Lazada teamed up with Uber and Netflix to offer a membership package of its own — called LiveUp — in a move that seemed to pre-empt the full launch of Prime. LiveUp is currently limited to Singapore, but Lazada has pledged to expand to other markets including Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy. That makes sense since Amazon is said to be eying regional expansions and Indonesia is sure to be high on its list.

Elsewhere in the wider Asia Pacific region, Amazon entered Australia this month. These expansions add to its foray into the Middle East via the acquisition of Souq.com. Amazon Prime is also available in India and Japan.

Featured Image: Lisa Werner/Moment Mobile/Getty Images

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