Amazon Ends Grocery Services in Singapore and Focuses on Cross-Border Sales
2Amazon has announced it is shutting down its grocery delivery service in Singapore, including Amazon Fresh and its local fulfillment operations. The move, effective July 6, marks a shift in Amazon’s strategy in the country. While the grocery business winds down, Amazon will continue its other services like AWS, retail, and Global Selling. The company believes Singaporean shoppers prefer products from US, Japanese, and German stores over local stock.
Why Amazon Is Leaving the Local Grocery Market
Amazon entered Singapore’s grocery scene in 2017 through Prime Now, rebranding it as Amazon Fresh later on. It partnered with local players like Cold Storage, Little Farms, and AS Watson to offer organic and specialty products. But the model never quite worked out in Singapore’s dense, small cityscape, where supermarkets are just minutes away from most homes.
The high cost of maintaining local delivery services and the intense competition with established supermarkets made it difficult for Amazon Fresh to gain a foothold. Building a differentiated catalog was also challenging, given the abundance of local options. As a result, Amazon decided to close its grocery operations in Singapore and redirect resources toward cross-border product sales.
Strategic Shift Toward Cross-Border Shopping
The decision aligns with Amazon’s global pattern of trimming less profitable or less strategic ventures. In recent years, Amazon has shut down several physical stores and services, including Amazon Go and Amazon Care, focusing on core strengths like Prime memberships and cloud computing. The company’s data shows that Singaporean consumers are more interested in buying from Amazon’s international stores than from local sources.
By ending local grocery services, Amazon aims to concentrate on cross-border sales of US, Japanese, and German products. Customers will still have access to Amazon.sg for international catalogues, and Amazon promises increased selection from these regions. Meanwhile, the company is investing heavily in its AWS cloud infrastructure in Singapore, with plans to expand data centers and support local exporters through its Global Selling platform.
For local employees, Amazon says affected staff will be offered internal transfers where possible, along with severance and career support. The overall impact on Singapore’s workforce is expected to be limited, but the move signals a strategic focus on areas where Amazon sees more growth potential.
Overall, Amazon’s exit from Singapore’s grocery market reflects a broader trend of refining its global business. The company continues to prioritize scalable retail operations, cloud services, and international product sales over smaller, high-cost ventures that aren’t aligned with its long-term goals.
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