12-04-2017, 09:42 PM | #1 | ||
Wizard
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Location: Australia
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Amazon opens full online store in Australia
Amazon has today opened it's full online store in Australia. Amazon.com.au has existed for some time, selling basically books and Kindle related products, though it did in recent years offer instant video, Kindle Unlimited and basically a few miscellaneous services. Kindle hardware and other physical products other than books simply linked to a few local retailers or to the main US store. Some things of course did not ship to Australia at all.
Amazon was to open last week, but the launch was delayed, apparently due to some problems with the site design. The new full store now features a range of products both Amazon's own products from it's single Melbourne warehouse and marketplace products. It seems many of Amazon's overseas suppliers have come to Australia with it, or will be doing so. As yet, the offering is limited compared to the US or UK. Our large local retailers will be pleased to see there are no televisions featured on the site. Prime will not be offered until next year, though a limited version is available for 6 months at a discounted price which features only Prime Video and Prime Twitch. They do state that Prime Shipping is coming, that they are working hard on it but can't share details at the moment. They invite people to join an email list for updates. Echo devices are not yet available, and apparently won't be until some time in the New Year. The Fire TV stick is available, but not the full Fire TV. At the moment shipping lags well behind the rest of the world. Australia is a huge country and very sparsely populated except for a relatively few cities with great distances between them. At the moment Amazon has a single Warehouse in Melbourne. According to a report in The Australian newspaper: Quote:
All in all, not a bad start. But, of course: Quote:
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12-05-2017, 01:05 PM | #2 |
Wizard
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Location: Newcastle, Australia
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I hope it does well, too, but I also hope its not at the expense of our existing department stores. Amazon is such a huge concern these days, it seems to just roll over anything in its path.
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12-05-2017, 02:09 PM | #3 |
Guru
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Well it probably will. Jobs will go with it as well. Though I can see the playing field eventually level. One big reason many buy through Amazon is no taxes. That has now changed and all charge taxes as of earlier this year. So price is much closer now to physical stores. Physical stores are coming up with ways to combat Amazon. I personally like to see most of what i buy and want it the day if purchase. A 20-50 dollar savings doesn't mean as much to me for instant obtainability. Plus the whole return process sucks. Though many don't see it that way. We shall see where it all goes
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