That would be how Amazon (retail) expands in the EU. They open German Amazon for new neighboring markets and then there are acrobatics with UI language, VAT, availability, payment and shipping options, etc.
They missed their first launch date by a week and a half. The lack of retailers is probably in part due to lack of APIs available til very close to launch day (within a week for orders) and a non existent sandbox for testing implementations.
They aren’t yet offering their own products with a few exceptions for cables.
Disclaimer: worked on our implementation as a launch retailer.
is that there is a culture of loyalty in Australia. So, this should be a walk in the part for other companies.
Though as far as I know, and all of this is secondhand knowledge, normal retail in Australia is costly. So, there is a market for cheap discount based retailing in Australia. But I could be wrong.
Aussie here. The Australia Tax [1] is absolutely a thing here: for example, it's difficult to buy decent kids' shoes for under $100 (!), whereas you can walk into any Payless in the US and walk out with a decent pair for $25 or so. Check this out if you don't believe me, and note that this is not a high-end retailer or anything, it's a chain with an outlet in every suburban shopping mall in Australia: https://www.shoesandsox.com.au/school.html
There's a huge slew of reasons for this, but it's a sum of very high rents and wages, a small market and a general lack of competition. Ebay, Aliexpress and Amazon US are consequently very popular, but most retailers are international so shipping is slow and, for anything bulkier, quite expensive. (Also, the deals aren't quite as good as they used to be since the Aussie dollar has depreciated against the USD.)
So, if Amazon can build a local operation here that -- for the first time in Australia -- has the trifecta of low prices, wide selection and fast shipping, they will crush the competition, online and offline. Which is why local retailers are scared shitless.
The dread factor is the extreme scale and persistence that Amazon is likely to bring to the market. They will keep coming and coming and coming at it until they claw away meaningful market share. They'll lower prices as far as necessary, subsidized by Amazon global; as far as they can without getting in trouble with the government.
In most developed nations, including Australia, consumer spending typically grows at low single digits over time. There is no room for Amazon to build a significant business in Australia without taking share away from other domestic retailers.
Sigh. Heh, I completely forgot Amazon sold everything. I thought this was about AWS.
If only something AWS- and Australia- related could bring "excitement, dread and defiance." That would be absolutely absolutely wonderful; getting any sort of hosting or VPS-type service here is nothing short of insane.
For example the only $20/mo offers I'm aware of only offer like 256MB RAM for example. And there is a VERY low bandwidth cap, with extra bandwidth starting at "eye-watering" and skyrocketing to "...wat." pretty quickly.
I'm not sure where you are looking but there are Australian VPS providers with comparable pricing to overseas vendors. A$20 will get you 2GB memory easily enough.
I'm struggling to find anything I want to buy on the Australian website. I can't even get enough into the basket to get free shipping.
And their goods categorisation is abysmal - whatever department you're in you seem to get heaps of unrelated dross.
It's a terrible place right now.
When they pick their game up I don't think there will be much loyalty to existing retailers. Australians are well aware and sick of the Australia tax, and desperate to join the rest of the western world.
The only thing I worry about is, if Amazon does decimate the retail industry, then where will young people find employment?
Youth unemployment in Australia is already quite high at 12.7%. If there is further erosion of the strength of industries that typically employ youths, then we will have a large component of a generation where unemployment is the norm.
[+] [-] bonestamp2|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] expertentipp|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] jsmeaton|8 years ago|reply
They aren’t yet offering their own products with a few exceptions for cables.
Disclaimer: worked on our implementation as a launch retailer.
[+] [-] robryan|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] donogh|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] empressplay|8 years ago|reply
https://www.amazon.com.au/Nintendo-Classic-Mini-Entertainmen...
[+] [-] thisisit|8 years ago|reply
https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/19/books/australias-amazon-b...
is that there is a culture of loyalty in Australia. So, this should be a walk in the part for other companies.
Though as far as I know, and all of this is secondhand knowledge, normal retail in Australia is costly. So, there is a market for cheap discount based retailing in Australia. But I could be wrong.
[+] [-] jpatokal|8 years ago|reply
There's a huge slew of reasons for this, but it's a sum of very high rents and wages, a small market and a general lack of competition. Ebay, Aliexpress and Amazon US are consequently very popular, but most retailers are international so shipping is slow and, for anything bulkier, quite expensive. (Also, the deals aren't quite as good as they used to be since the Aussie dollar has depreciated against the USD.)
So, if Amazon can build a local operation here that -- for the first time in Australia -- has the trifecta of low prices, wide selection and fast shipping, they will crush the competition, online and offline. Which is why local retailers are scared shitless.
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Australia_Tax
[+] [-] sdwisely|8 years ago|reply
I wouldn't be sweating it much at the moment if I was for example a local bookshop. OTOH an electronics retailer...
[+] [-] adventured|8 years ago|reply
In most developed nations, including Australia, consumer spending typically grows at low single digits over time. There is no room for Amazon to build a significant business in Australia without taking share away from other domestic retailers.
[+] [-] exikyut|8 years ago|reply
If only something AWS- and Australia- related could bring "excitement, dread and defiance." That would be absolutely absolutely wonderful; getting any sort of hosting or VPS-type service here is nothing short of insane.
For example the only $20/mo offers I'm aware of only offer like 256MB RAM for example. And there is a VERY low bandwidth cap, with extra bandwidth starting at "eye-watering" and skyrocketing to "...wat." pretty quickly.
[+] [-] aluskuiuc|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] NathanOsullivan|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] danmaz74|8 years ago|reply
[+] [-] dajt|8 years ago|reply
And their goods categorisation is abysmal - whatever department you're in you seem to get heaps of unrelated dross.
It's a terrible place right now.
When they pick their game up I don't think there will be much loyalty to existing retailers. Australians are well aware and sick of the Australia tax, and desperate to join the rest of the western world.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] Khaine|8 years ago|reply
Youth unemployment in Australia is already quite high at 12.7%. If there is further erosion of the strength of industries that typically employ youths, then we will have a large component of a generation where unemployment is the norm.
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
[deleted]
[+] [-] unknown|8 years ago|reply
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[+] [-] chris_wot|8 years ago|reply