Will You Be Amazon-Ed?

Global online retailer Amazon has gained a firm foothold in Singapore by promising speedy shopping service and low prices, but do consumers love it or loathe it?

- Genevieve Gannon

Picture a regular suburban neighbourhood. A woman arrives home from work on a rainy afternoon, and she and her children are soaked through. She dumps the kids’ wet clothes in the washing machine, but when she goes to add the detergent she finds it has run out. Her feet are aching, her back is sore and she can’t face a peak-hour run to the supermarket.

“Alexa,” she addresses her voice activated personal assistant, “order more washing liquid.” She’s exhausted, and the thought of cooking dinner makes her heart sink. “Alexa, order dinner from the Italian restaurant I like around the corner,” she says, then adds: “Oh, and I want a bottle of red wine too.”

The food and wine will arrive in less than two hours; the detergent the next day. This isn’t a scene from a science fiction film: It’s happening right now. In Seattle, London and parts of the US where Amazon has rolled out its latest suite of services, people are changing the way they shop.

Since the launch of intelligent virtual assistant Alexa in 2014 and its hands-free add-on speaker Echo just two years later, one-click shopping has evolved to click-free shopping. The free-delivery membership programme Amazon offers, Prime, means customers can have everything from sushi to bath salts delivered within a two-hour time frame, just by asking.

Meanwhile, the retail giant has already rolled out Amazon Prime in Singapore selling clothes, electronics, groceries and more. Still, it remains tight-lipped on whether its other innovations – like the cashless and cashier-less Go store – will follow.