Over recent years there has been fevered speculation about when the ecommerce giant will launch Amazon Australia. The company confirmed that it would be making a foray down under earlier in the year and now the question is when the marketplace will open its doors for business. As we asked earlier in the year: Will Amazon Australia this year?
But it looks like it’s getting close to the being opening day with the first employee arriving for work at the first fulfilment centre in Australia. It’s located in Dandenong, with is about 40 kilometres southeast of Melbourne.
In the Australian media, the arrival is being treated as a genuine threat to existing retailers and there has even been talk of a specific online sales tax from legislators to see of the risk of a dominant Amazon, damaging local businesses. It’s not an unfair reaction, when you look at how Amazon is growing around the world, considering that Australia does have a a chance to moderate Amazon if they wish to.
But Amazon is resolute that they will be bring great benefits to Aussie shoppers and small business alike.
Jeff Bezos is the Founder and CEO and says of Amazon Australia: “Amazon Web Services launched an Australian region in 2012, we launched a Kindle Store on Amazon.com.au in 2013, and we now have almost 1,000 employees in the country,” he said in a statement.
“The next step is to bring a retail offering to Australia, and we are making those plans now. We are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace.
We are optimistic that by focusing on the things we believe customers value most – low prices, vast selection, and fast delivery – over time we’ll earn the business of Australian customers.”
3 Responses
Brace yourself Australia. Dont send any unique products into an Amazon warehouse either, they will steal your ideas and simply try and put you out of business. Fact is OZ business should not fall into the same abyss thousands of UK US and EU businesses have by allowing Amazon onto your turf. Good jobs will be replaced by 0 hour contracts for a start.
Sam – how many zero hour contracts does amazon have in the UK? I know some amazon staff, have not met any on zero hour contracts who work for amazon.
As for stealing ideas and putting you out of business, they are a competitor. If I was a competitor of yours I would do the same.
Excellent news for consumers in Australia. More choice and a much better delivery proposition. Traditional retailers in Australia should be scared, they are doing a poor job of bringing Australian retail into the modern world.