Amazon Global Selling Singapore shares 2024 priorities, signs MoU

Source: Amazon. From left: Chan, Low, Jim Yang, Director of Amazon business and global selling expansion in Asia, Amazon Global Selling Asia, and Palit pose after the MoU was signed.

Amazon Global Selling Singapore unveiled its 2024 strategic priorities at the Amazon Global Selling Summit 2023 (Southeast Asia) and signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Nanyang Polytechnic’s Singapore Institute of Retail Studies (NYP-SIRS). The summit was co-located with Tech Week Singapore.

Anand Palit, Head of Amazon Global Selling, Southeast Asia, said: “Amazon Global Selling Singapore has been constantly strengthening and expanding our support for Singapore and Southeast Asian sellers, working closely with key partners. We remain steadfast in our commitment to help Singapore and Southeast Asian regional businesses grow into global brands. This commitment involves enhancing the capabilities of local entrepreneurs, and SMEs in the dynamic CBEC landscape, as well as leveraging Amazon’s active customer base, global infrastructure and innovative products."

Introducing global infrastructure and resources, strengthening local collaborations, enhancing product innovation and services, and global brand-building solutions are the four priorities going forward. 

Introducing global infrastructure and resources

Amazon is constantly investing in global infrastructure and supply chain innovation to help optimise and simplify the fulfilment and delivery needs of sellers. FBA (Fulfilment by Amazon) offers a fast and reliable service that helps sellers reduce the operational burden so that they can focus on their brand and product innovation. This September, Amazon introduced Supply Chain by Amazon, an end-to-end, fully automated set of supply chain services that will provide sellers with a complete solution to quickly and reliably move products from manufacturing locations to customers around the world. 

Strengthening local industry and entrepreneurship collaboration

Amazon Global Selling will continue actively strengthening collaborations with governments, industry associations, and institutes of higher learning in the region, to empower entrepreneurs and upskill SMEs in CBEC. These efforts and collaborations, such as with NYP-SIRS, Enterprise Singapore, Singapore Business Federation (SBF), and the Department of International Trade Promotion (Thailand) not only facilitate knowledge sharing, but also bolster online export capabilities. 

Enhancing product innovation and services to improve seller experience

Amazon is committed to introducing innovative products and services to reduce seller frictions and improve seller experiences. To simplify how sellers create more thorough and captivating product descriptions, a set of generative AI capabilities were just launched to make it faster and easier for sellers to list new products. 

In Southeast Asia, where credit card penetration is relatively low, Amazon recently launched debit card acceptance on Amazon stores for sellers in Southeast Asia countries such as the Philippines, Malaysia and Thailand to enhance the seller registration experience in these regions. 

Comprehensive global brand building solutions 

Amazon supports businesses of all sizes to launch and build a successful brand and offers comprehensive solutions for brands seeking to establish a global presence. Beyond advertising tools, brand owners in the region can also look forward to new tools such as the Customer Loyalty Dashboard to help brand owners build stronger relationships with customers and boost brand and product-level loyalty, as well as Brand Tailored Promotions which helps brands offer promotional codes to potential and new customers. 

Helping local brands go global

The value of B2C e-commerce sales earned by Singapore firms from overseas sales has the potential to more than double from S$1.7 billion in 2022 to S$3.9 billion by 2027, if they invest in cross-border e-commerce (CBEC). These findings, from the recently-launched Local Sellers, Global Consumers: Capturing the e-commerce export opportunity in Singapore study, dovetail with the aims of the MoU. 

Under the terms of the MoU, Amazon Global Selling and NYP-SIRS will join hands to bolster online export capabilities of Singaporean entrepreneurs and small and medium enterprises (SMEs), as well as further empower them in going global. The programme aims to equip around 800 Singaporean entrepreneurs and SMEs with the knowledge and skillsets to take their business online in the next three years and help them seize CBEC opportunities. 

Through the collaboration, the two parties plan to jointly coordinate and organise activities that empower entrepreneurs and SMEs to operate on the same stage as established brands and win global customer recognition. The sharing of product sourcing best practices, study missions, and workshops for product development that can tap on global consumption trends are some of the initiatives in the pipeline.

Palit commented: "This collaboration marks a key milestone in our continuous journey of empowering Singapore SMEs and entrepreneurs to thrive on a global scale. As the e-commerce landscape rapidly evolves, our commitment remains resolute in equipping local entrepreneurs and businesses with the knowledge, resources, and online export expertise essential for sustained international success. 

"We recognise the immense potential within Southeast Asia and envision a future where our joint efforts with industry collaborators will serve as a catalyst for the region's entrepreneurial community. Together, we will not only navigate the opportunities and complexities of cross-border e-commerce but also pioneer innovative solutions that keep local brands at the forefront of global cross-border e-commerce."

Russell Chan, Principal & CEO, Nanyang Polytechnic, said: “By being aware of what local businesses wanted and needed, we were able to work with Amazon Global Selling so that this collaboration delivers real, immediate and practical initiatives which tap into Amazon’s global expertise and insights, as well as NYP-SIRS’ experience and know-how in the retail space. This region is quickly developing into a powerhouse for the B2C cross-border market – and this collaboration is poised to make considerable impact.”

Themed Go Global from the Get Go, this year’s Amazon Global Selling Summit (Southeast Asia) showcased illustrated how successful regional sellers harnessed Amazon's services and tools to achieve their goals of selling internationally.

Grey Tan, Founder of Thiccly, said: “Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) has been a game changer for my business. With FBA, our business became scalable with a global reach from Day 1. Instead of being swamped with operational logistics of packing orders for our Thiccly GrowPoles, we can focus on product design. 

"In the first year of selling through Amazon Global Selling, we launched six new products within 12 months, and scaled our revenue five times. And we're on track to grow our revenue 400% year-on-year in 2023. Beyond plant care, Amazon Global Selling gave us the confidence to start a new venture.”

Key takeaways from Selling Globally Myth Busters: Top Amazon.com sellers from Singapore break down what it takes to kickstart a B2C brand, and grow internationally, a panel discussion, included Crystal Ren, Founder of Abound Lifestyle & Phera, saying that it’s not necessary to have e-commerce experience to be successful in setting up an international e-commerce business. She also shared that consumers differ in the West compared to in Singapore when it comes to statement pieces her company sells; these tend to be more popular in America where there is a more individualistic culture compared to consumers in Singapore.

Ivan Ong, who established KeaBabies with his wife, spoke about their strategic approach of pursuing the marketplace in the US first for their business before expanding beyond because “if you can succeed in the US, you can succeed elsewhere”. He also shared about how it’s possible to build trust in your brand purely digitally by leveraging social media and influencers to engage with consumers, letting them know that the company is always here for them. The company has the No. 1 best-selling toddler pillow and No. 2 baby sling carrier on Amazon US.

Mark Newton, Founder of Aerospring Hydroponics, talked about how there are certainly opportunities in the US despite it being a crowded marketplace. He spoke about the importance of finding a niche, and anchoring the brand in the niche to truly succeed.

Subscription fee waiver for new sellers

At the summit, Amazon also introduced a fee waiver for new sellers from Southeast Asian countries. To further support new sellers and provide more opportunities to those who are open to explore cross-border e-commerce opportunities, Amazon is also offering a six-month discount on its Professional Selling plan to sellers located in Singapore, the Philippines, Thailand, Malaysia and several other Asia regions who register to sell in North America stores. 

Sellers who register with Amazon Global Selling for the first time can pay a total of US$1 for the first six months’ subscription fee (US$1 for first month and nothing for the five months following that), instead of paying the standard fee for the Professional Selling Plan.  

Amazon Global Selling’s vision is to help businesses benefit from global digital transformation, build international brands and directly reach Amazon customers worldwide. This aligns well with one of the key strategies of the Retail Industry Transformation Map (ITM) 2025 led by Enterprise Singapore, to build global Singapore brands and support internationalisation.

In her keynote, Low Yen Ling, Minister of State for the Ministry of Trade and Industry & Minister of Culture, Community and Youth, noted that Amazon has levelled the playing field for small, medium and micro sized enterprises when it comes to internationalisation. "Internationalisation is a crucial strategy for SMEs to leapfrog into new worlds of growth opportunities. Given the limits of our small domestic market, SMEs that want to grow have to expand their horizons and explore overseas markets. The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the dangers of relying on a single market and the importance of diversification. The shift to near-shoring also presents fresh opportunities for our SMEs as economic gravity moves to Asia," she said.

Low also encouraged businesses to take advantage of government grants like EnterpriseSG’s Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) grant and the Double Tax Deduction for Internationalisation (DTDi) scheme to reduce the costs of market expansion and investment development activities.