Two years after launching its Prime and Prime Now services in Singapore, Amazon is allowing Chinese merchants to sell via its Singapore website. In October, Amazon expanded its Singapore presence by launching a bigger local Amazon.sg store that carries a wider assortment. The retailer aims to drive fast growth in the market to compete with Alibaba’s Lazada, which is the leading ecommerce player and, according to Edge by Ascential data, already generates USD801 million in ecommerce sales.
Allowing Chinese sellers onto its Singapore platform comes on the back of Amazon opening a storefront on social commerce platform Pinduoduo in November, which will run until the end of December and carry a selection of about 1,000 products. Although Amazon closed its Chinese marketplace in July, it plans to open up more of its overseas sites to Chinese businesses in an effort to still gain a foothold in the digitally-native market.
Amazon’s regional operating model and cross-border aspirations can be disruptive to pricing, promotion, and assortment strategies. Brands must build regionalized strategies to foster greater inter-market coordination and easier KPI measurement. Suppliers can also use price harmonization to mitigate cross-border sourcing effects, as well as sell Amazon-specific SKUs to minimize pricing fluctuations.
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