Amazon Retreats from Singapore Groceries, Leans on Cross-Border Instead
May 7, 2026 - 9:58 am
Amazon Fresh and its local fulfilment network will shut down on 6 July. A small number of Singapore roles will be affected. While AWS, retail, and Global Selling remain, the company believes Singaporean shoppers prefer US, Japanese, and German product catalogues over local replenishment.
Amazon is closing down Amazon Fresh in Singapore and shutting its local fulfilment operations, confirming the move on Wednesday. Partnerships with Little Farms and AS Watson will also end on the same date. A "small number" of Singapore roles will be cut as part of the wind-down.
Peter Li, country manager for Amazon Singapore, attributed the changes to customer demand patterns: Singaporeans mostly want goods from Amazon’s US, Japanese, and German stores rather than locally stocked products.
Why Amazon Fresh Struggled in Singapore
Singapore was never an ideal market for Amazon Fresh. The city-state is small and densely populated, already well-serviced by established supermarkets like FairPrice, RedMart, Sheng Siong, and a host of last-mile delivery players.
Amazon entered the Singaporean grocery scene in 2017 with Prime Now, later rebranding it as Amazon Fresh and forming partnerships including Cold Storage (AS Watson) and Little Farms for organic produce. However, the competitive landscape proved challenging. Either subsidizing deliveries or competing on a catalog that Amazon couldn't differentiate its offerings from local retailers was an uphill battle.
Closing Down: A Global Trend
The decision to close Amazon Fresh in Singapore aligns with Amazon's broader strategy of redirecting investment towards cross-border parcel services where data indicates strong customer demand. This is similar to their recent closures of:
- Try Before You Buy clothing service globally (2023)
- Amazon Care (2022)
- Physical Amazon Go and Amazon Fresh stores in the US (2026)
A Year of Changes at Amazon
While the Singapore cuts are relatively small, they occur against a backdrop of significant workforce reductions for Amazon. In January 2026, the company announced 16,000 corporate cuts across retail, devices, and AWS support—the largest in its history.