Before Phase 2: Heightened Alert, my mum and I would do much of our shopping at retail stores.

Even if it was something we didn’t really need (read: an impractical but cute mug, yet another notebook, salad slicers or three sets of spin mops) we enjoyed the experience of spending time together, and bonding over retail therapy.

However, in light of the rising number of community cases, we realised that we had to put a pause to our usual outings.

It was rather difficult; after all, my mum and I enjoyed shopping trips, and the physical aspect of wandering around aimlessly through shopping aisles and discovering new finds.

Quite thankfully, Amazon’s annual Prime Day is here in Singapore to save the day. Happening from today, June 21 to June 22, the shopping extravaganza will have more savings with two million deals for Prime members globally and in Singapore.

Seeing my mum reading and re-reading the papers and her recipe books, this opportunity inspired the most ridiculous idea: if we couldn’t go shopping, why not bring shopping to us?

Thus, I tried to convince her of this strange idea today.

“Ma, look at this.” I told her, bringing up the Amazon Shopping app. She peered at my phone blankly.

“I want you to find an item that you think that I would like. I’ll pick one for you too.”

“Har?” She replied, obviously lost.

“You know like last time when we went shopping, I see something I think we can use at home, I show you then we buy? Same lor. Some more now have sale today and tomorrow.”

“Haiyoh, where got same? Online got what?” She said, finding my request quite out of the blue, but now she was more intently looking at my phone’s screen.

I then demonstrated to her how she could browse through the app. I suggested that she could click on the hamburger menu to look through multiple categories of items, such as Beauty, Electronics, Kitchen & Dining, Fashion, Books, and so on.

All she needed to do after all was to tap on what she found interesting, and Amazon will show her an extensive list of products.

Even if she didn’t have an item in mind, she could still scroll through the Amazon.sg site, almost like walking down a shopping aisle.

There are other general categories like Best Sellers and New Releases, which are very useful even when you don’t have something in mind just yet.

My mum being my mum however, ended up getting carried away by looking at everything else rather than specific items for me.

She started looking at everything that she uses day-to-day, or rather, ingredients that she uses day to day as her eyes scanned through the Amazon Fresh page, which was filled with grocery deals, with the low prices getting her attention.

“Eh this one! This one is good for when relatives come to visit us!” she said, immediately letting her gaze hover over deals on Beer, Wines and Spirits.

She also animatedly pointed at deals on Ben and Jerry’s ice cream, noting that it would be good to stock a few tubs in for when we’re able to have my younger cousins over.

“Mummm. I’m asking you to look at gifts, not shopping for everyday items!” I whined, but I realised that this is pretty much the habit of people in her generation.

Finally pulling her eyes away from the groceries, there were plenty of gadget deals being featured, to which my mum realised might be useful for my cousin who is currently studying at a Polytechnic.

She vaguely recalled his interest in music and gaming, and I guided her towards Amazon’s gaming store.

There were also some pretty good deals on PC and electronics as I highlighted certain items that caught our eye, such as keyboards and headphones.

My mum noted that my cousin can get rather selective with buying products. “He picky ah. That time we go shopping, this cannot, that cannot.”

I laughed and told my mum that with a good selection of international products, he’d actually be spoiled for choice if he shopped online at Amazon.

Realising it’s best that he did the shopping on his own, she moved on to browsing the Books category on the site.

She considered getting me several books, but I wasn’t keen.

“Do you not want to read more??” She chided jokingly, to which I replied that I had a pretty full shelf.

Besides, I could really use nicer clothes and vitamin supplements, but my mum being the Gen X lady she is, prompted me to look at something more “practical and useful”.

I thus hinted at my very makeshift desktop setup and pointed out to her that I could really use a proper laptop stand.

I showed her where the electronics section was in the website (it helped that there were conveniently situated logos on the top of the screen), and she started looking and recommending a few choices.

“This ok anot? Later the size wrong how?” She said, trying to grasp the size that was needed for me.

Showing her the customer review section, I explained, "This person say is ok, then got picture. Somemore got five-star ratings on top. So I think ok lah."

Furthermore, I told her that this was from a small local business – and it is one of the 2,500 deals and offerings from such local sellers on Amazon this Prime Day. That sealed the deal for her.

As for my gift to her, my mum’s been complaining of aching feet lately, so I decided to get her a foot roller to help ease her soreness and feel more comfortable.

We could have gotten a massage chair, but we quickly agreed that it would take up too much space at home, though it wouldn’t have been troublesome for it to be delivered as well.

After all, for non-Prime members, there’s free local delivery within two to three days on eligible orders above S$40, and for Prime members, it's free local delivery within one to two days at no minimum spend on eligible orders.

Prime members also enjoy free international delivery on orders above S$60, and free international delivery, with no minimum spend, on selected products from Hasbro, Yankee Candle, SanDisk and more until June 23, 3 pm SGT.

While we couldn’t easily go down to a shopping mall like before, this opportunity made online shopping a bonding experience and definitely brought a smile to her face.

And if you feel like trying this gift exchange with your parents or friends, you’re in luck: Amazon Prime Day is already here in Singapore till June 22 and will feature more deals than any Prime Day before.

Shoppers from all generations can cash in huge savings thanks to the huge number of deals found across Amazon’s site and shopping app. On top of the variety of categories available, Amazon is also making it easy for customers to connect with small and local businesses, with a special curated storefront where Prime members can discover and shop their products.

This will also be the first installment of Prime Day with Amazon Fresh, the new and improved two-hour grocery delivery service – perfect if your parents are looking to get groceries for the household in two hours.

For even more savings, you can check out Amazon Coupons where you can find discounts on everyday essentials, electronics, clothing, and more. Simply clip the coupon and the discount will be applied at checkout.

To sweeten the deal, here are some useful card promos to maximise your savings during your shopping spree, from now till June 22:

• Citi card holders can get a S$20 Amazon.sg e-Gift Card when they spend S$200 or more on their Citi Credit card on Amazon.sg.
• SCB card holders can get a S$20 Amazon.sg e-Gift Card when they spend S$200 or more on their Standard Chartered credit card on Amazon.sg.
• HSBC card holders can get a S$10 Amazon.sg e-Gift Card when they spend S$100 or more on their HSBC card on Amazon.sg, and a S$15 Amazon.sg e-Gift Card when they spend S$150 or more on their HSBC card on Amazon Fresh.
• DBS/POSB card holders can get a S$15 Amazon.sg e-Gift Card when they spend S$150 or more on their DBS/POSB card on Amazon Fresh.
• GrabPay card holders can get a S$20 Amazon.sg e-Gift Card when they spend S$200 or more on their GrabPay card on Amazon.sg.

Terms and conditions apply. Visit this site for full details on all bank promotions.

Prime Day is exclusive to Prime members, and the membership costs only S$2.99 per month — cheaper than your favourite bubble tea, even. And if you’re not part of the membership yet, you can start with a 30-day trial for FREE to gain access to the best in shopping and entertainment with Amazon Prime Video and Amazon Prime Gaming.

Get ready for big savings and start shopping today!

This article is brought to you by Amazon, who’s made this writer buy a few things she didn’t need.