Amazon joins forces with Enterprise Singapore to help small and medium-sized businesses in Singapore venture overseas

Amazon Singapore is also extending the waiver of professional selling account subscription, fees for new and existing sellers, until 30 June 2021

SINGAPORE
– Media
OutReach – 28 January 2021 – (NASDAQ:AMZN) – Amazon announced today at the inaugural Amazon Southeast Asia
Online Seller Summit 2021
additional resources and support for small and medium-sized businesses (SMBs)
in Singapore to start selling online and expand globally through its stores. Amazon
announced that it is extending the waiver of professional selling account
subscription fees for new and existing sellers, until 30 June 2021. This
support builds on Amazon’s current initiatives such as the online seller
education series, Seller University, and over 225 free tools and
services to help sellers grow their sales in Amazon’s stores in Singapore and
worldwide.

 

In
addition, Amazon is teaming up with Enterprise Singapore (ESG) to help local
retailers scale globally. Enterprise Singapore will support these efforts
through the Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) scheme. Support will be capped at
S$100,000 per new country, includes support for up to 70% of eligible costs for
overseas promotion, overseas business development and overseas country set-up,
and gives SMBs the flexibility to expand across new countries at their
preferred pace. This is one of several measures which local enterprises can tap
on through ESG to grow and diversify their businesses.  More details can be found in ANNEX.

 

“We
will double-down on efforts to support our local businesses in gaining
e-commerce capabilities and maximizing their growth opportunities from the
digital economy. To help companies access customers in new countries, ESG has
also been working with Amazon to onboard Singapore sellers to Amazon as a
channel for international sales, such as in the US, Canada, and India. Support
is available for Singapore companies that are looking to expand to these countries,”
said Minister for Trade and Industry, Mr
Chan Chun Sing. 

 

“Small
businesses are an essential part of Amazon’s DNA. Through the Amazon Southeast
Asia Online Seller Summit 2021, we aim to enable more local sellers to reach a
global audience through our 20 stores worldwide. Whether they are just getting
started or are an experienced seller, Amazon’s comprehensive programs and
network will help SMBs overcome operational challenges to maximize growth opportunities
globally,” said Henry Low, Country Manager, Amazon Singapore.

 

The
Southeast Asia Online Seller Summit, being held today and tomorrow, has drawn over 3,000 participants who are
interested to understand how they can sell with Amazon, scale their businesses,
and seize cross-border opportunities. Guest-of-Honour, Minister for Trade and
Industry, Mr Chan Chun Sing, leaders of Amazon Singapore, industry experts, and
local business owners selling on Amazon.sg came together on Day 1 to discuss
local and regional retail trends and offer insights on how SMBs can ‘Start
Local, Go Global’ with Amazon.

 

Connecting
sellers to exchange best practices

As
part of the Summit, Amazon hosted a panel of SMB founders to share experiences
of growing their business online and their journey with Amazon. Through the
support of Amazon’s global network and its logistics and inventory solutions
such as Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA), each of them has expanded to serve
customers globally — all from the comfort and safety of their homes.

 

“When
I started Rui Smiths in 2014, selecting Amazon as the e-commerce store for my
business was a no brainer. Amazon has been offering an unparalleled service that
perfectly fits my needs, since my initial days as a new business owner,
allowing me to expand internationally from the get-go. In just 4 years, with
Amazon, we had hit S$200,000 in sales and were already selling in the US, UK,
and Australia,” said Debbie Cai, founder, Rui Smiths. “I hope the
insights and resources shared at the Summit will help many local sellers like
myself grow their business not only in Singapore but also beyond shores for
customers everywhere.”

 

Local
resources for sellers in Singapore to unleash and maximize global growth
opportunities

To
date, Amazon has provided support to thousands of SMBs keen to sell online with
Amazon.sg and its stores globally and continues to help many of them go digital
and build thriving businesses. To shine the spotlight on more local retailers,
Amazon continues to promote a dedicated “Shop Local” storefront on Amazon.sg, featuring
local brands’ founding stories and a plethora of products in categories such as
home and home improvement, electronics, kitchen and dining, health and personal
care, toys and games, groceries and more.

 

Other
resources introduced include the Amazon Seller App for local sellers with
accounts on Amazon.sg to track sales and manage their business via mobile, the
Marketplace Appstore, a one-stop shop to discover third-party applications and
services for automating tedious business aspects, and the Seller Forum, a
resource for first-hand advice from fellow business owners on selling with
Amazon. Sellers can also join the Sell on
Amazon Singapore Facebook page to connect with the community of
sellers on Amazon.sg.

 

These
initiatives are furthered by Amazon.sg’s ongoing collaboration with Infocomm
Media Development Authority (IMDA) for the Digital Resilience Bonus, offering eligible
SMBs a bonus of up to S$2,500 for selling on e-commerce channels like Amazon.
The bonus is available to eligible local retailers until 30 June 2021.  

 

To learn more about
the millions of small and medium-sized businesses growing with Amazon,
visit: aboutamazon.com/supporting-small-businesses. More information about selling
on Amazon can be found here: https://www.amazon.sg/sell.

 

Annex: Empowering SMBs to Start Local, Go Global with the Market Readiness
Assistance (MRA) Scheme

 

SMBs
selling on Amazon.sg may receive an international boost through Enterprise
Singapore’s Market Readiness Assistance (MRA) scheme to partially offset the
costs of scaling their business overseas to new countries. Those eligible will
receive the following support:

• Up to 70% of eligible costs, capped at S$100,000
  per company per new country* from 1 April 2020 to 31 March 2023, that covers:

o   Overseas
Promotion (capped at S$20,000)

o   Overseas
Business Development (capped at S$50,000)

o   Overseas
Set-up (capped at S$30,000)

• Each application is limited to one activity in a
  single overseas country (e.g. participation in a trade fair)

 

To
be eligible, companies should meet the following criteria:

• Business entity is registered/incorporated in
  Singapore
• New country criteria, i.e. target overseas
  country whereby the applicant has not exceeded S$100,000 in overseas sales in
  each of the last three preceding years
• At least 30% local shareholding
• Group Annual Sales Turnover of not more than
  S$100 million; OR Company’s Group Employment Size of not more than 200
  employees

 

* With
effect from 1 April 2020, a new country refers to a target overseas country
whereby the applicant company has not exceeded S$100,000 in overseas sales in
each of the last three preceding years. The maximum support level is raised from 70% to 80% from 1 November 2020
to 30 September 2021.

 

Interested
and eligible SMBs selling on Amazon.sg can apply for the Market Readiness
Assistance (MRA) scheme via Enterprise Singapore’s website here. SMBs can also approach Enterprise
Singapore and Amazon for advisory support to develop their
internationalisation business plans.

 

To
further equip Singapore SMBs with the capabilities to sell overseas via Amazon,
Enterprise Singapore is in active discussions with Amazon on new training
programmes which include listing optimisation, customer service, and
international demand generation. More details will be announced later this
year.