The Australian Amazon rollout has been slower than expected. Launching in December last quarter, the retail giant did not create a large impact in the Australian market.
According to the ABC, analysts have observed a slow start to the online giant’s entry into the Australian market and IBISWorld senior industry analyst Nathan Cloutman thinks price could be a factor.
“Prices haven’t been as low as everybody was expecting,” he said. However, Mr. Walker said the soft launch is likely part of their strategy.
“They take a while to get all the tools in their armoury complete,” he said.
The full fulfillment service for businesses listing on Amazon has begun. Businesses who are registered on its online marketplace can now access its Fulfilment by Amazon service, which selects, packages and ships products on the seller’s behalf.
In a further announcement in February, Amazon has confirmed its Prime subscription service will launch in Australia in mid-2018.
The Amazon Prime service provides free shipping and discounts on some Amazon items. This service is popular in the US and is likely to be popular in Australia where shipping costs can be quite high.
Prime membership via Amazon Australia looks like it will be split into individual components, Prime Video, Twitch Prime and Prime Shipping. Prime Video and Twitch are available now, with the Prime Shipping coming soon.
It is still unclear on what will be available and how it will be packaged in Australia. For now, all we can do is wait and see!
