Amazon has today launched its membership-based program Amazon Prime in Singapore, marking the US giant’s latest major incursion into the Southeast Asian e-commerce market.

Its debut comes just days after online shoppers in the city-state reported that free shipping from Amazon’s US was no longer available.

Amazon confirmed yesterday that the feature had been permanently scrapped, without further explanation.

The e-commerce company’s Marketplace is not present in Singapore, but since 2013 its US business did offer free shipping to the city-state on orders over US$125.

The Converted from Singapore dollar. Rate: US$1 = S$1.35.

The launch of Amazon Prime has introduced a new shipping item from the US site.

Possible be an indication that Singapore Marketplace is on its way.