Amazon has just extended its e-commerce tendrils even deeper into the Singapore market. After launching its video-streaming service Prime Video in December last year and the (finicky) Prime Now quick delivery service in July, the internet giant today launched its Amazon Prime membership programme in the city-state — the first in Southeast Asia to enjoy the benefits (limited as they may be).
As part of its promotional effort, membership fees for Singaporeans are offered at the sweet, sweet price of S$2.99 a month for a limited time before they revert to the standard S$8.99 monthly. For that amount, members get to enjoy Prime Video, a membership with video game streaming platform Twitch, and unlimited free international shipping on orders above S$60 on the Prime Now mobile app.
The catch here is that the international range of over five million products is only available within the Prime Now app itself. Our attempts to order items from the Amazon US website itself didn’t seem to include or display the benefits of our Amazon Prime Singapore membership.
Speaking to The Straits Times, Amazon Prime International’s vice president Jamil Ghani noted that the Prime membership is country-specific and not transferable at all — those who already have US Prime memberships cannot convert them to local ones, and vice versa.
While benefits are only restricted to the mobile app, Ghani said that more will be added in the future for Prime membership in Singapore. Though everything points to an eventual local Amazon online store, he remained mum about their plans.
The launch of Amazon Prime comes just after the company ended its Free AmazonGlobal Saver Shipping option to Singapore on Monday, which enabled shoppers here to get free international shipping with a minimum order of US$125. Currently, you’ll have to sign up for a Prime membership, and that’s only limited to shopping on the Prime Now app. For now, at least.
