It’s been a long time in gestation but it looks like we’re getting closer to understanding what the future Amazon Australia will look like.
We’ve expected the launch for more than a few years and finally we have some suggestion that a launch will be soon. We wrote about it recently here: Will Amazon Australia launch this year?
There is no clear indication on what the opening date will be. But Amazon will be opening a 24,387sqm site in Melbourne’s Dandenong South district that will soon be able to fulfil goods from their broad inventory and also, presumably, from third party sellers like you.
Amazon Australia’s new boss is called Robert Bruce and he is talking up the jobs possibility for Australia. He says: “Over time, we will bring thousands of new jobs to Australia and millions of dollars of investment as well as opening up the opportunity for thousands of Australian businesses to sell at home and abroad through Amazon Marketplace.”
Immediate job opportunities will apparently include roles in sales, operations and safety. There will also be vacancies for pickers, packers, systems technicians and HR specialists in due course.
The real issue for Tamebay readers is how quickly Amazon sellers will be able to take advantage of this interesting new English-speaking market. Melbourne is a canny choice because it is well-situated. It’s close to most of Australia’s 24 million population.
The ideal situation will be that Amazon really greases the wheels of cross border trade for UK and European and American traders. It will be exciting if Amazon can institute an effective FBA programme, for instance, so that retailers can really start selling down under with ease. But then, needless to say, Australia will also be of interest to Chinese sellers too.
Yet the question remains: when is Amazon Australia going to go live and be effective? It’s been a fair few years now of speculation. So hopefully by Black Friday this year sellers will be able to sell fully to Australians. Will you get involved?
