Amazon to launch in Australia tomorrow

Amazon will launch in Australia this Thursday, according to sources who spoke to Internet Retailing (sister publication of Inside Small Business) on condition of anonymity.

The eCommerce giant has alerted Marketplace sellers that they should be prepared to receive orders from 2pm AEST on 23 November. Sellers that are not yet ready to transact have been told to make their account inactive.

The news comes a little over a week after Amazon Australia’s country manager Rocco Braeuniger told audience members at the Marketplace Seller Summit in Sydney that the retailer was, “really, really, really close” to launching.

Braeuniger also said last week that the Amazon will launch its first-party retail offering and third-party Marketplace simultaneously.

This means that some products on offer will be sold by the eCommerce giant, which buys items directly from suppliers and manufacturers and sets its own prices, and some products will be sold by third-party sellers, who control the price and delivery of items sold on Marketplace.

Scott Kilmartin, an eCommerce consultant and creator of the “David vs Amazon” podcast, said Amazon plans to promote the launch by handing out free ice cream at train stations across the country.

Kilmartin, who happens to own an ice-cream stand business, was contacted by a company organising a marketing event for an online retail store with a yellow/orange theme. The event is planned for Thursday afternoon at Southern Cross Station in Melbourne.

While he conceded that this could describe any number of companies – Alibaba, for instance – Kilmartin said, “You don’t have to be a genius to figure it out.”

Kilmartin said he also knows of events taking place at train stations in Perth and Sydney.

Internet Retailing has reached out to Amazon for comment and we will update this story if and when they receive a reply.

Heather McIlvaine, Editor, Internet Retailing

This article first appeared on Internet Retailing, sister publication of Inside Small Business