As Amazon.com Inc. pushes into Southeast Asia with a new venture into Singapore, the online retailer is facing some tough hurdles. Shopping in air-conditioned malls is practically a national sport, and e-commerce rivals moved in long ago.
Delivery delays also marred Amazon's debut in July, when on-the-ground operations began with Prime Now two-hour deliveries. When accounting for orders placed on its main U.S. website, Amazon lags behind local web-store Lazada and its parent, Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.
For the island country's consumers, a store or a shopping center is usually just minutes away. In fact there are too many stores, with mall operators scaling back operations after years of over-expansion. While retailers blame a weaker economy and increased web shopping, the country of 5.6 million trails most of the developed world when it comes to e-commerce. Just 4.6 percent of Singapore's retail sales took place online last year, compared with 15 percent in the U.K. and 10 percent in the U.S., according to Euromonitor International.