Amazon introduces new resources for local businesses to expand in Singapore and globally
Amazon Global Selling introduced its strategy in 2023 at the Amazon Southeast Asia Seller Summit 2022 to support the digital transformation of Singapore sellers through cross-border e-commerce.
New resources will help local businesses establish their brands in new geographies with support at every step of the selling journey.
Day 2 of the Summit continues tomorrow focused on reaching Amazon's customers in Singapore and opportunities to maximize sales during the peak season.
On the first day of the Amazon Southeast Asia Seller Summit 2022, Amazon Global Selling introduced innovative tools and services to help sellers in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines grow their brands online locally and on an international scale. Nearly 4,000 small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs) joined Day 1 of the Summit physically and virtually to learn how they can sell to international customers on Amazon stores worldwide, with thousands more expected to join on Day 2, covering Amazon Singapore opportunities. The event was organized to provide businesses with the information, skills and tools needed to grow along with the expanding cross-border e-commerce sector, while becoming more resilient against economic uncertainties in the future.
According to an Amazon survey with domestic e-commerce sellers and traditional export companies in Singapore, Malaysia, and the Philippines, nearly seven in 10 plan to expand to new countries in 2022. Almost all (96%) who were surveyed will also consider cross-border e-commerce activities in the future, motivated by the opportunity to build a global brand, and increase their customer base from overseas.
This comes as the e-commerce sector is projected to continue flourishing in the region. Based on the early commissioned research results by AlphaBeta, the value of Business-to-Consumer (B2C) e-commerce sales earned by Singapore firms from overseas sales has the potential to nearly double by 2027 if they invest in cross-border e-commerce. The share of e-commerce sales for Micro-SMEs is estimated to be 45% in 2022 and has the potential to increase to 69% by 2027.
There are nearly 2 million SMBs selling on Amazon, and third-party sales represent nearly 60% of total sales. Amazon Global Selling empowers sellers and supports their long-term development. Key initiatives in 2023 will focus on making going global faster and easier:
Support sellers' cross-border digital transformation through Amazon's global scale and resources
With the addition of the newly opened Amazon Belgian Store, Amazon now covers 22 stores in over 200 countries, and supports 27 languages. At the end of 2021, Amazon had more than 400 fulfilment centers across the globe. Same-day Amazon Prime delivery service now covers more than 50% of the US.
Incubate entrepreneurship and support brand owner success globally
On top of free brand-building tools such as Brand Registry and Brand Stores, Amazon.com has introduced more innovative brand-building tools such as Premium A+ Content and Amazon Creative Services hub. The new Growth Opportunities tool suggests and quantifies the sales impact of valuable actions to improve a brand's storefront.
o Amazon Global Selling is growing its local support for global sellers in Singapore, with expanding local support teams, Seller Community events, forums, and the addition of more Amazon Global Selling Ambassadors such as Naoki Matcha and Pristine.
Roll out more innovative tools and services to empower businesses at all stages of selling globally
Amazon is constantly listening to the voice of sellers and has made investments focused on several common themes that sellers face when expanding globally, namely, understanding local demand/preferences, compliance, inventory management and cross-border payments. This year, Amazon.com has launched many new innovative products and services available to global sellers that can help address those challenges, including Amazon Product Opportunity Explorer, Manage Your Compliance dashboard, Amazon Warehousing & Distribution and Seller Wallet.
Introduce more global initiatives and enhance local support to sellers
Amazon Global Selling will strengthen cooperation with local partners and third-party providers to jointly drive digital transformation and provide support in areas such as cross-border taxes, overseas warehousing, delivery service and brand compliance. We will continue to improve seller education resources and seller training programs for sellers at different stages of development. Besides, sellers new to selling on Amazon.com and the European stores can avail up to US$50,000 in new seller support, including Fulfilment by Amazon and Amazon advertising credits.
Anand Palit, Head of Global Selling, Southeast Asia, said, "With many small and medium enterprises now selling online, they stand at the cusp of booming opportunities all around them. The opportunity for capturing a slice of the international e-commerce pie is ripe, which small businesses should look to leverage. Our new solutions will help them smoothen the journey in cross-border e-commerce development, and bring the world and its customers closer to them. Whether businesses are just getting started online or have been selling on Amazon stores worldwide, we will continue to support their growth so they can thrive in an international playing field."
With the theme 'Small Businesses, Big Ambitions', the Summit continues tomorrow in a hybrid format – online via an Event App, and in person at the Marina Bay Sands Convention Centre in Singapore. Day 2 of the Summit will dive into selling on Amazon.sg, and innovative features such as Amazon Easy Ship to support local sellers reach and fulfil orders to local customers. The Summit will also explore opportunities to scale and export to Malaysia via a single workflow.
Jan Lim, Country Leader Singapore Marketplace, Amazon Singapore, said, "I am proud to see that many local businesses on Amazon.sg, such as Bizgram and Spigen, have started relying on the tools and programs we offer sellers, including Fulfilment by Amazon and Easy Ship. We offer a robust service provider network and educational resources for support in logistics and storage, account management, support to create listings for sellers, and advertising optimization. SMBs are a part of Amazon's DNA so we will keep ramping up investments as part of our firm belief in their success.".
