Late last year, the ground began to rumble that Amazon was planning to enter Southeast Asia via Singapore in 2017. After some fits and starts, it appears that the e-commerce giant is finally ready to launch in the Lion City.
The arrival could happen as soon as this week — with Amazon Prime, Amazon Prime Now fast delivery and Amazon’s regular e-commerce services set to become available to Singapore’s population of over five million people. Pricing is still unclear at this point.
In a further hint, Amazon has already begun marketing its services through online influencers. A number of high-profile Instagram users in Singapore have posted sponsored teasers of Amazon’s Prime Now service in recent days. While not labeled Amazon, the distinctive tick on the packaging is a clear giveaway.
The Singapore launch is widely expected to be the beginning of a regional expansion as the city-state has far too small of a population to make any impact on Amazon’s overall revenue numbers. Southeast Asia has around 600 million people and a growing regional middle-class and millions of people coming online for the first time.
Industry insiders weigh in on the coming e-commerce bloodbath and how brands will have to step up their game.
The e-commerce giant has spent 2017 pushing into new geographies and verticals. It expanded into the Middle East — via the acquisition of Souq.com — initiated a move into Australia, and it is in the process of buying Whole Foods in the U.S. for just shy of $14 billion.
Now it is jumping into Southeast Asia, a region of 600 million consumers where rival Alibaba and fellow Chinese firm Tencent are already actively investing.
Alibaba has since increased its stake to 83 percent via another investment. Alibaba-Lazada preempted Amazon’s arrival with the acquisition of Singapore-based e-grocery company Redmart, and the introduction of a Prime-like membership service in partnership with Uber and Netflix.
Amazon will also be keeping tabs on Indonesia’s Tokopedia, which a source told TechCrunch is in discussions with Tencent ally JD.com and Alibaba over an investment that could reach $500 million.
Bring it on, fellas.
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