Amazon Australia Has Launched. The Big Marketplace Change Downunder

What Should Sellers Be Aware Of?

Amazon will potentially take a big bite of the Australian retail market – an AU$12 billion bite, based on an estimation, which is causing some retailers to start to get concerned about the market change. One way in which Amazon will impact Australian Ecommerce businesses is by dominating search results. However, there is no reason to panic, as the saying goes, 'If you can’t beat it, you better join it'. Amazon Australia can also be a lucrative marketplace for all retailers especially smaller ones because of the nationwide access to millions of potential customers.

Retailers do need to be aware that product search behaviour of customers has shifted in the past few years and Google isn’t necessarily the first stop anymore when it comes to product searches. In fact, Amazon has beaten Google in the race of product searches in the US and a familiar development could be seen in the Australian market. Over the years Google has been the first stop in almost every search. But when it comes to product searches, Amazon established itself as the Number 1 entry point for product searches. (According to a UPS survey among more than 5,000 US online shoppers).

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So Where Is the Opportunity for Sellers?

Some retailers are waiting to see how the others fare. Some aren’t even considering adding Amazon to their multichannel marketing strategy.

US retailers who didn’t want to jump on the Amazon train, were forced to reduce their prices – some to an uneconomic and unsustainable level. This is, of course, a hard liner in a market where Amazon dominates 43% of the ecommerce market. In contrast to down under, the price levels will be influenced by the number of the first movers. Sellers have here the unique opportunity to follow the get-go strategy and position their products to a reasonable price.

Another advantage of the Amazon Australia is the fact that no ecommerce business has a sales history yet. This is an important Amazon evaluation tool and plays a big role at Amazon in terms of winning the Buy Box. Your competitors haven’t established a sales history at Amazon but you can start right now and create a valuable sales history with a long-term benefit.

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The conclusion is simple and straight forwarded – Retailers should use this big first mover opportunity, prepare themselves and definitely jump on the Amazon train to achieve more in their multichannel marketing strategy.

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