Amazon Launches Prime Services Membership in Singapore

On Wednesday, Amazon, the American e-commerce giant, launched its subscription-based Prime Now services in Singapore. This will provide an access to fast shipping, streaming, and gaming services, which could intensify the competition with its incumbent rival, Lazada, in Southeast Asia.

Amazon Prime launches in Singapore on Wednesday.

The e-commerce giant made its biggest push into Southeast Asia in July by launching a free two-hour delivery service in the city-state, which marks its first head-on battle with Chinese rival Alibaba.

However, with the launch of Amazon Prime, Amazon stated on a report that “the unlimited free international shipping will now be exclusively a Prime member benefit moving forward.”

According to an Amazon customer service officer, the free shipping to Singapore ended on Monday. A note on the checkout page of the US Amazon Store now states that the “items shipped to addresses outside the US are not eligible for free shipping.”

Singapore is going to be the 16th country and the first in Southeast Asia to launch Amazon Prime, which gives members perks such as free shipping and access to other services for a monthly or yearly fee.

The prime members in Singapore will also be eligible for free international shipping on orders that are above $60 of more than five million items from the US store of Amazon, which is going to be available on the Prime Now mobile app.

Amazon Prime Video, a streaming service, and Twitch Prime, a gaming subscription service, will be available as a bundle as part of the membership.

The Prime membership will cost $8.99 per month. But for a limited time, it will go for $2.99 a month, although the company did not say for how long.

However, the subscribers of the Amazon Prime Video in Singapore won’t be forced to join Prime.

Membership in the US costs $10.99 a month or $99 a year, and it provides access to a slew of services such as music streaming, free same-day delivery and restaurant delivery in some areas.

Consumers who do not have a Prime membership in the US can still have a free delivery within the state for orders with a total of $25 or more on eligible items.

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