Six hours ago the much anticipated Amazon Australia launch didn’t happen as expected, but a small group of shoppers are now able to buy on the site. This has left many not invited to the pre-launch testing to complain on on social media that the press got the date wrong.
When exactly was Amazon launching in Australia anyway? Thought it was meant to be today?
— Liam Pomfret (@LiamPomfret) November 23, 2017
Was this the first Amazon Australia Order?
We can confirm that the soft launch is live. The search bar is now populated with product suggestions for physical products such as Epson. Even though most buyers still aren’t able to purchase yet, one Amazon Australia users claims to be the first to make a purchase – a $3 xBox game, although they are still waiting to see if the product ships and the purchase went through.
Ooohkaaay… So it seems that (via some Google cache shenanigans) I was somehow just able to actually purchase a physical product from #AmazonAustralia ahead of it's proper launch. I'm not sure if it was legit or a glitch or a dummy placeholder product, but we'll see… pic.twitter.com/lL2h7hrOUI
— Mikey McCorry (@madwebskills) November 23, 2017
Physical Products on Amazon Australia
We were able to locate some products on the site (click the image for a full page screen shot) although currently as we’re not in the test group of Australians invited to the pre-launch test phase we’ve been unable to make a purchase.
When will Amazon Australia fully launch?
Amazon aren’t revealing when they will fully launch Amazon Australia to the general public, but the smart money all seems to be tomorrow for the Black Friday sales. However there are plenty of opposing views that reckon it could be towards the end of the month and that Amazon wouldn’t want to launch on a day when they know they would be inundated with orders. Australians are excited enough to be able to test the site, let alone inviting them to shop for the first time on the busiest day of the year.
Will you sell on Amazon Australia?
There are three main issues facing UK retailers who wish to sell on Amazon Australia – you need an Australian bank account, there is no multichannel integration yet and there is no FBA so you’ll only be able to offer relatively slow shipping from the UK.
Not withstanding the logistical and technical hurdles, Amazon Australia would seem a natural choice for retailers wishing to expand their cross border sales. For the UK and US there are no language barriers, Amazon is a familiar platform that you already trade on so there’s no learning curve and the Australian culture is similar to the UK. Plus of course it’s an ideal venue for selling off-season stock, we’re just coming into Winter whilst Summer is on the way in Australia so the seasons are reversed.
One Response
The bank account issue can be solved by Transferwise who can easily set you up with an Australian account.
I’m just uploading my inventory at the moment. The process is is the same as all the other Amazon sites, though some of their file headers are a bit different, so you have to do a bit of tweaking.
But some of the functionality we expect in UK and US, hasn’t yet been set up. For example, as a seller outside Australia you can’t change your shipping settings. They default to 10-20 day delivery which will be off-putting for buyers, even though we can get orders there quicker.
Still, it will be interesting to see if it turns out to be a good channel for us.