Ready to sell on Amazon Singapore? Discover the market’s viability, top product categories, and essential strategies to thrive in this competitive Southeast Asian eCommerce hub.
Getting started with Amazon Singapore
Singapore, a sovereign city-state known for its delectable cuisine and wide-ranging cultural diversity, was the first nation in Southeast Asia to have its own Amazon marketplace: Amazon.sg. And ofcourse why not? Singapore, one of the “Four Asian Tigers,” has a strong enough economy to warrant overseas traders intruding; it also helps that the majority of Singaporeans speak English (or Singlish).
But the real question is: Should you even try to enter this powerful global industry in the first place? What goods or sales techniques would be the most profitable on Amazon Singapore, and how much would that cost? In this manual, we explain the steps involved in selling on Amazon Singapore and offer suggestions for getting started.
State of the Market and Top Retail Leaders in Singapore’s eCommerce
Is the Singapore eCommerce market viable for your brand, first and foremost? Despite how profitable it is, not every retailer can profit from its own buying trends. Let’s start by taking a step back and examining Singapore’s economy in its whole.
Amazon entered the Singapore eCommerce market in late 2019, but there was already a lot of heated competition and risky selling going on there. Singapore’s eCommerce market sales will expand by a staggering 28.4% annually to $2.33 billion in 2020, predicts Statista. Averaging US$760.95 per user, the market’s 3 million consumers also spend a lot of money.
But such alluring numbers also breed more rivalry, particularly with Lazada, the leading eCommerce platform in the nation and one financed by Alibaba. In fact, Amazon Singapore behind even eBay Singapore in terms of online market size in 2019. However, given Amazon’s global reach and FBA possibilities, it’s still the best market for outsiders to establish a footing.
Your first step should be to visit the locations mentioned above to get a feel for the area, regardless of whether you’re just considering expanding into Amazon Singapore or moving full-steam ahead. To distinguish the differences between selling in Singapore and selling elsewhere, pay attention to the top sellers, pricing, delivery, returns policies, and even just the writing style.
Singaporean shoppers’ preferences
From Europe to Mexico, every culture has its own distinct purchasing habits. Your selling choices are greatly influenced by the buying culture of the area, including how much customers are prepared to pay, how long they are willing to wait for deliveries, and which products become top sellers.
These two numbers can teach you a lot about what to anticipate:
- 73% of Singaporeans with internet access have bought something online.
- Only 47% of Singaporeans who have access to the internet have purchased something using a desktop or laptop, compared to 54% who have done so using a mobile device.
What conclusions may we draw from these facts? To begin with, Singaporeans appear prepared to engage in eCommerce. That’s fantastic news for the future because it indicates that now is a wonderful time to grow. Additionally, mobile eCommerce appears to be fairly common in Singapore. Retailers on the internet should make sure their websites are responsively made for mobile displays. Fortunately, the Amazon app takes care of that for you.
Singapore’s Top Product Categories
Whether there is enough demand for your products to support yourself is one of the most crucial factors to take into account when expanding your business to a new country. The most popular product categories in Singapore are:
Travel and lodging: US$3.641 billion
Media & Electronics: $1.080 billion USD
Beauty and fashion: $0.999 billion USD
Keep in mind, though, which categories are expanding the quickest. Long-term benefits of positioning yourself in one of these categories can be enormous.
Food and personal care saw a YoY gain of 47%.
Hobbies, DIY, and toys had a 40% YoY increase.
Electronics and media saw a 31% YoY rise.
You might be in a strong position to enter the Singapore market if these products are your top sellers. If not, before growing, you might want to think about include them in your product line.
How to sell on Amazon
Step 1: Create an Amazon seller account.
Create an account on Amazon’s Seller Central to get started. Complete the required fields. Please be aware that this extensive, multi-step process will take at least 20 minutes.
You will need to use a one-time password (OTP) twice to confirm your account. The first OTP will be delivered to the email address you supplied, and the second OTP will be delivered to your phone.
You’ll be prompted with questions under the “Product information” tab to choose between creating an account as a professional or an individual seller.
The monthly subscription charge for new sellers with professional selling accounts is waived. If you want to sell more than 40 goods each month, this membership package is the ideal choice. If not, sell on your own.
Step 2: Verify your authenticity
Enter the information from your driver’s license or passport, together with a recent bank statement, to confirm your identification (issued within the last 90 days).
Wait for your account to be approved after submitting your documents. If additional clarification is required, the Amazon team will contact you within 2 business days.
Step 3: List your products.
You can add items in quantity to the Amazon Marketplace catalog by using the Professional selling subscription option. If not, mention each product separately. Verify the seller’s forbidden list to make sure your products are not on it.
You may either do:
- listing goods that are currently on Amazon.sg
- listing new products that aren’t yet available on Amazon.sg
Whichever approach you go with, be sure the mentioned production details are correct and comprehensive.
Select and Market your products
Choosing your products is the most crucial step in selling on Amazon. The secret to successful selling is finding the products that customers love and can sell for a healthy profit.
Products on Amazon are separated into categories, with over 20 categories open to all sellers. Before you can start selling in other categories, Amazon may need to approve your application. Of course, some products cannot be offered due to ethical, moral, or practical considerations.
You could know exactly what you want to sell. Verify that it is permitted in the categories on Amazon, and consider the logistics of sending it. Additionally, you must ensure that you can sell it for a price that would net you a healthy profit after shipping and Amazon taxes.
If you’re not sure what you want to sell on Amazon, you can use the best sellers lists by category or even one of the various keyword search tools to find inspiration. To view the greatest sellers by category on Amazon, log in as a customer. You may also use the specialized keyword tools available from firms like Jungle Scout4. A lot of assistance and free resources are also available directly from Amazon, including case studies, how-to manuals, and Seller University, which provides details and videos on selling.
You have two options for shipping purchases: you may handle it yourself or outsource it to the Fulfillment by Amazon service.
Dropshipping on Amazon
In the well-liked business model known as dropshipping, product management is outsourced by the sellers. Instead, they collaborate with suppliers who can handle the direct delivery of goods to clients. Less risk for the seller and less administrative work result from this.
This business model is one that new Amazon sellers might want to try out because it has low entrance hurdles. Unfortunately, there are certain complications involved in doing this.
You might find that you can employ this business model on Amazon, depending on where you sell and how you set up your dropshipping operation. But there are clear limitations on what is permitted, and breaking them will result in consequences.
Amazon FBA Singapore
Fulfilled By Amazon is referred to as FBA. With the help of this Amazon service, vendors can concentrate on choosing and marketing their goods while Amazon handles the selection, packing, and shipping of each individual client order. You may ship all of your goods to an Amazon warehouse, and the Amazon staff will handle orders as they come in, taking care of aftercare and customer support as necessary.
A lot of advantages come with Amazon FBA. Meaning you don’t have to store or ship your own merchandise, you can sell in Singapore and many other international markets. That’s ideal if you don’t have the time or the available space to deal with shipment. Additionally, you can obtain free shipping with Amazon Prime on all of your products, which will help them stand out from the competition. ⁵
There are costs associated with FBA, including a per-item delivery charge and a storage charge based on cubic meters. This is a flexible service because you just pay for what you use.
Step 4: Methods of payment
You will be charged a selling fee for each item that is sold. Every so often, Amazon will deposit your payment into the designated bank account.
Best advice for boosting sales on Amazon Singapore
The next step after signing up with Amazon.sg is to promote your products and increase sales. Here are some straightforward advice that will help you.
First, take note of SEO keywords.
Your Amazon sales will increase as a result of SEO keywords. Buyer search keywords, however, are always evolving. Always make sure your product description has keywords and optimized titles. To assist you, use SEO tools like Keyword Tool.
Get reviews from clients.
Amazon’s ecosystem is based on user reviews. Increase your chances of closing sales by staying one step ahead of your rivals. So put an emphasis on providing excellent customer service to encourage customers to write favorable product reviews.
Start advertising efforts on Amazon.sg as a third tip.
You want your product to show up at the top of the Amazon search results page or next to relevant items in order to drive the most traffic to your website. To do this, you can think about purchasing the website’s advertising tools.
There are three primary advertising options available on Amazon:
- Option for Sponsored Products (your individual product listing will appear on both Amazon search results pages and product detail pages)
- Option for Sponsored Brands (your brand and product portfolio will appear in search results in the form of a brand logo, custom headline and up to 3 selected products)
- stores’ option (your brand and product offerings are listed on custom multipage shopping destinations)
The Sponsored Products and Sponsored Brands options are cost-per-click advertisements, however the Stores option is free. You only pay when someone clicks on your ad. You must first make a bid on relevant product keywords in order to interact with these adverts. Your ad won’t be shown unless your bid is successful. Start your Amazon website advertising now with $50 in free click credits.
Run Facebook and Instagram advertising concurrently
Consider running Facebook and Instagram advertisements concurrently as part of a multi-channel plan to increase traffic and drive sales to your Amazon listings and maximize the effectiveness of your online campaign.
Reaching your precise target audience using Instagram and Facebook advertising has many advantages. This is so that you may choose based on geography, behavior, age, and hobbies.
Additionally, a lot of young individuals spend a significant amount of their online time on these two private sites. You should visit the places where your clients are. Additionally, a more casual marketing approach performs better on these platforms, which can facilitate client engagement and conversion.
Conclusion
Despite having a population of only 5.8 million, Singapore has a very high e-commerce penetration rate of 70%, and the business there is rapidly expanding.
Singapore may also serve as your entry point to the rest of South East Asia; internet sales are steadily rising in Thailand, Vietnam, Indonesia, and many other nations.
