In what could be a preview of battles to come in Australia when Amazon makes its long-expected entry to the Down Under market, Amazon and Chinese player Alibaba are going head-to-head in an attempt to break into the Singapore e-commerce market.

Amazon last week launched its Prime Now two-hour delivery service in Singapore, an area that Alibaba has already been attacking with help from its South-East Asian e-commerce player Lazada.

With Prime Now, Singapore users whose order totals below S$40.00 will pay a S$5.99 delivery fee. But for orders above S$40.00, users can get free delivery within two hours for items including electronics, beer, fresh produce and baby products.

It seems likely that Amazon will be planning similar deals in major Australian cities once it launches – though it will find deliveries Down Under will cost a good deal more than in the ultra-compact city-state of Singapore.