Amazon got off to a bumpy start in Australia when it launched at the end of 2017, despite its long-awaited arrival.
This may have been due to it being late to the party; competing with well-to-do marketplaces such as eBay, Kogan and Catch and its battles with shipping infrastructure issues and existing labour laws.
With just a few hundred sellers on launch, the marketplace understandably struggled; less competition meant higher prices.
But on Prime Day, an annual 48-hour event where many of its products are reduced significantly, the 15th and 16th of July, Amazon AU is ramping up its advertising to attract more customers.
In addition, it has been recently reported that revenue has grown more than 1500% in the most recent fiscal year. So, while it has some catching up to do, Amazon AU has some real potential for growth.
Brands – listen up – because this concerns you.
Should you be wary of Amazon?
Unlike eBay, Amazon sells its own products, making it a direct competitor for retailers and brands. This competition differs slightly depending on whether you’re a retailer or brand, however.
- If you’re a retailer: Amazon can go straight to your suppliers, buy in bulk at a cheaper rate and sell at a better rate.
- If you’re a brand: the only competition you need be aware of is if you’re selling something similar to them.
Brands don’t need to worry, though retailers should tread carefully. Nevertheless, the opportunity of Amazon is too good to pass up, especially for brands.
Marketplace Pulse also reported that Amazon sales accounted for less than 50% of the company’s total revenue in the latest quarter. They also reported that Amazon-owned private label brands are not as successful as people may believe.
What’s changing?
Over the past year, Amazon has been ramping up its efforts to compete with the likes of eBay. Most recently, however, Amazon has released Amazon Advertising (Sponsored Products) for Australia.
Click here for more detail.
Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA)
Fulfilment by Amazon is one of the best ways to handle Amazon and is the reason why so many retailers love to sell through the marketplace.
Instead of paying for labour, you can instead pay Amazon to take care of handling and shipping. All you need to do is send your products to one of their fulfilment centres around the country.
How do I get started?
The first thing you’ll need to do before thinking about marketplaces is optimise your product data. As with channels such as Google Shopping or eBay, Amazon requires a good-quality product data feed. That means it needs to be correct, complete and optimised for SEO purposes.
Learn how to optimise your product data feed for Amazon and other channels.
How do I handle yet another marketplace?
We understand that multiple channels mean more work for you. Each marketplace or channel requires different specifications of product data, so we hear your concerns.
The only way to handle this (without having a stress related migraine) is by using a platform that allows you to manage and optimise your product data at scale.
How Intelligent Reach helps
Intelligent Reach is a product visibility platform that allows retailers and brands to push high-quality, attribute rich product data to multiple channels and marketplaces at once and handles order management seamlessly.
Still unsure about Amazon?
Have a chat with our team.
{{cta('ed38f10f-7ed1-4005-8672-cf9c63f1b37a')}}
