4 reasons why you should be excited about Amazon Prime (apart from the fast delivery services)

Amazon‘s Prime Now service launched a few weeks ago in Singapore, and they had a rough start. Their delivery services were falling behind, and initially excited Singaporeans were now furious at what seemed to be false advertising. Can’t say I blame them, I too had my own share of disappointment when I’d spent 1 hour carting my items just to find I can’t check them out ‘cause they ran out of delivery slots.

Amazon Prime’s main selling points were:

-  Super fast delivery service (1 or 2 hr deliveries, depending on where you live)

-  Low minimum order ($40)

-  Low delivery fees (If your order doesn’t hit $40, you’ll have to pay $5.99 for the 2-hr delivery)

These points differentiated them from market competitors like Alibaba, Lazada, Redmart, and Ezbuy. What’s more, you got a promotional $20 off your order using a Visa credit card with the code “VISA20”, and $10 off your first order with “10PRIMENOW”.

But let’s move past their initial problems, and think about the future. It all lies in the possibilities of what Amazon Prime will bring to Singapore’s market; it has already been announced that Amazon intends a gradual rollout of all other Prime services in time, alongside their Kindle and Echo and other Alexa devices. And that’s what’s going to send their competitors packing.

Once the rest of Amazon’s tech offerings gets rolled out in Singapore, Amazon’s not going to be just another mega e-commerce giant. You’ll get to enjoy a higher level of convenience with online shopping.

It’s a game-changer – just like how the Apple iPhone redefined mobile devices in an industry dominated by Nokias and Blackberrys.

Here’s what you should look forward to:

Other Prime related services made available

As a US Prime member, I get access to all Prime benefits from all Amazon sites. But imagine enjoying Prime Day superdeals on our very own Amazon.sg! And then getting them delivered free without a minimum order.

Potential credit card tie-ups with banks

In US Amazon sites, Prime members earn 5% back whenever they use a Amazon Prime credit card and 2% cash back if they don’t. With Amazon now in Singapore, expect banks here to tie up with Amazon to provide us with even more incentives to shop there, maybe even a co-branded credit card.

Increased range of brands/products from US to choose from

With competition here with Alibaba, Ezbuy, and what not, what distinguishes Amazon will also be their spread of US brand products that their competitors won’t have access to. If it’s something that their competitors also offer, we’ll expect that Amazon will lower their price point to remain competitive. Either way, that’s good news for us Singaporeans!

Technologically advanced customer experience

With Echo and other Alexa devices, shopping online just got a whole lot easier. Although it’ll be a long way before Singaporeans adapt to the “no hands needed” approach to buying online, it’s still great to have options like a dedicated voice assistant for shopping online, accessing your Audible books, and controlling other devices in our households.

Amazon’s Prime membership program can also be used globally on Amazon sites across the globe. Meaning you can go to any Amazon site and still enjoy non-shipping related membership benefits.

This article was first published on Moneysmart.