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Amazon Finally Launches In Australia (mashable.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the long-overdue dept.

After a very soft launch on Nov. 23, Amazon has officially launched in Australia. Mashable reports: One of the biggest things to happen to Australia's retail sector, Amazon's website has switched over from a Kindle Store presence to its fully fledged Amazon.com.au, with millions of products now ready for eager Christmas shoppers across more than 20 categories. It's a huge moment for Australian retail, and one of the most anticipated launches of the year, after Amazon confirmed in April 2017 it would expand its operations in Australia. Local retailers like David Jones and Myer have been scrambling to launch their own "premium" in-store services and price matching strategies or revamped online stores ahead of Amazon's arrival.

Thousands of Australian brands have already signed up with Amazon to sell their wares locally and internationally. Small and medium-sized Australian businesses are selling on Amazon Marketplace. Amazon's allowing free delivery on eligible orders above $49 that are sold by Amazon, and the company is rolling out one-day delivery service to select areas. Plus, for the first time, Australian customers will be able to access Prime Video and Twitch Prime, launching Prime shipping benefits in Australia in mid-2018 (registration for Prime is open now for Aussies).

27 of 57 comments (clear)

  1. Prime video was already here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Prime video was already available coinciding with the launch of the first season of the grand tour. However, as with most content distributors the value is questionable due a considerably smaller selection of content due to geographical copyright licensing.

  2. Prices aren't great though by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

    Sorry Amazon, but you are going to have to try harder if you want our money:

    https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/12/amazon-australia-launch-most-of-the-prices-suck/

    Australians are used to being shafted on price (aka the 'Australia tax') and many of us are used to shopping on overseas sites (via VPN if needed) using shipping forwarder services and the like.

    What people want from Amazon AU is basically Amazon US, but local. This doesn't appear to be what we've got here.

    1. Re:Prices aren't great though by David_Hart · · Score: 1

      Sorry Amazon, but you are going to have to try harder if you want our money:

      https://www.lifehacker.com.au/2017/12/amazon-australia-launch-most-of-the-prices-suck/

      Australians are used to being shafted on price (aka the 'Australia tax') and many of us are used to shopping on overseas sites (via VPN if needed) using shipping forwarder services and the like.

      What people want from Amazon AU is basically Amazon US, but local. This doesn't appear to be what we've got here.

      Sounds just like the Canadian version, Amazon.ca, which is severely limited in comparison to the US version.

      I live in the US but my relatives are back in Canada. I would love to be able to buy presents on Amazon.ca and have them shipped locally in Canada rather than buying them in the US and driving them across the border. Amazon.com is cheaper, even after paying taxes, and has almost an infinitely larger selection of items.

    2. Re:Prices aren't great though by Paradise+Pete · · Score: 1

      many of us are used to shopping on overseas sites (via VPN if needed) using shipping forwarder services and the like.

      What about VAT on the package? How do you avoid that, or if not, is it still worthwhile?

    3. Re:Prices aren't great though by Frederic54 · · Score: 1

      Don't worry, it's the same thing in Canada, a US$100 item on .com will be CA$200 on .ca, it's often cheaper to buy in the US, pay shipping+brokerage+taxes than buy in Canada. Amazon.ca really sucks for price, and they have maybe 10% of what there is in the .com.

      --
      "Science will win because it works." - Stephen Hawking
  3. abject failure of a launch by gravewax · · Score: 4, Informative

    and what a fucking dismal launch it was, prices are at best average, many of them even more expensive than the local retailers they were claiming they would be 30% cheaper than them. I guess I will continue to use online retailers in the US/Singapore/UK/Germany as even with shipping, duty and fees they are a shit load cheaper than buying locally or being ripped off by amazon.

    1. Re:abject failure of a launch by rmdingler · · Score: 1
      Always the lowest price was Walmart's prized commercial bullet point... until someone sued them out of using it.

      Amazon?

      They've begun to understand the value of sometimes the lowest price, with a mix of hype, bewilderment, and advertisement. Prime Day, my ass.

      --
      Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.

      Ernest Hemingway

  4. Meh, it’s not gonna be that good. by Pig+Hogger · · Score: 1

    If it’s anything like Amazon in Canada, stuff will be anywhere from 4 to 40 times more expensive than in the U.S.

  5. I hope that it won't do well ... by b0s0z0ku · · Score: 1

    No need for an American behemoth muscling in on the Australian market and destroying local businesses. Keep out.

    Yes, I'm American, but I see what Amazon is doing to independent businesses in the US and don't wish it on anyone else.

    1. Re:I hope that it won't do well ... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      I hate it when things are cheaper and more convenient...in real life all I like to do is shop, it's fun and a great use of time. If this keeps up I won't be able to shop at nearly as many small stores.

    2. Re:I hope that it won't do well ... by nomadic · · Score: 4, Funny

      "No need for an American behemoth muscling in on the Australian market and destroying local businesses. Keep out."

      No. Americans could put every Australian company out of business, set fire to their crops, and salt the earth, and it still wouldn't be nearly enough payback for Rupert Murdoch.

    3. Re:I hope that it won't do well ... by MoaDweeb · · Score: 1

      Russell Crowe? He is part of the package deal.

      --
      New Zealanders are well balanced with a chip on each shoulder. One represents Australia, the other the rest of the world
  6. Why are they scrambling? by CanadianMacFan · · Score: 3, Insightful

    They have years to build up their online presence or for one of the local companies to try and fill the void left by not having Amazon. But it seems like they have sitting back just waiting for Amazon to come.

    If I had been running a chain down there I would have been looking at the best practices from around the world and adapting them to my situation. Waiting for the biggest competition to announce their expansion before building up my business is just plain stupid.

    1. Re:Why are they scrambling? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      If I had been running a chain down there I would have been looking at the best practices from around the world and adapting them to my situation. Waiting for the biggest competition to announce their expansion before building up my business is just plain stupid.

      Their lunch was already getting slowly eaten: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    2. Re:Why are they scrambling? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Kogan? Seriously? I can't see any potential for taking the piss out of that.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    3. Re:Why are they scrambling? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Yeah take the piss out Ruslan Konan's last name. That name made him worth $400m, I'm sure he won't mind.

    4. Re:Why are they scrambling? by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

      Sorry, Ruslan who? Even by your standards that's an epic fail.

      --
      Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
    5. Re:Why are they scrambling? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Sorry, Ruslan who? Even by your standards that's an epic fail.

      Because I know stuff about stuff it's an epic fail? Man your anti-intellectualism is the stuff of legends.

      https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/...

    6. Re:Why are they scrambling? by thegarbz · · Score: 1

      Oh I see now. A typo. What an epic fail. I guess my life was over.

      Thanks though. If a single character typo is what qualifies as an "epic fail" "even by my standards" you must hold me in very high regards. I'm honoured, humbled, and undeserving of your complements.

    7. Re: Why are they scrambling? by sound+vision · · Score: 1

      The only retail chain(s) who could even come close to competing on product selection would be whatever the Australian equivalent of Wal Mart is. And personally, every single time I've used Amazon, it's precisely because I want something that Wal Mart *doesn't* have. Like, I guess some people do buy Lipton tea bags and issues of Popular Mechanics off Amazon, but I don't think that's the cause of their wildfire success.

  7. Fuck those cunts.... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    .....fucking prices are still sky high.

    Just because Australia is the best place for anyone to be able to live in, in the entirety of human history, is no reason to keep gouging.

    Sometimes I think if we had lots of poor people, like Americans for example, then prices would be lower. Then I look at the US and snap out of it.... no way !!!!

    Having cheaper toaster ovens in no way compensates for having half your population as drug addicted beggars.

    1. Re:Fuck those cunts.... by kamapuaa · · Score: 2

      I am American and let me tell you my jimmies are ruffled right now. Excellent troll 10/10.

      --
      Slashdot: providing anti-social weirdos a soapbox, since 1997.
  8. Re:Over 10 years ago! by AndrewMalcolm · · Score: 1

    Sounds like Amazon UK. Australia doesn't have royal mail.

  9. Re:Huge IT Failure by gravewax · · Score: 2

    you seem ignorant of how the Australian watch dog works. They enforce the rules that retailers can DISCOUNT AS MUCH AS THEY LIKE, RRP cannot be enforced here and deals that artificially keep prices high are illegal and the only restriction is you can't do predatory pricing (i.e. pricing designed specifically to send competitors broke so that they can then lift prices)

  10. Strewth! by Hognoxious · · Score: 1

    They should call it Abbozon.

    --
    Confucius say, "Find worm in apple - bad. Find half a worm - worse."
  11. Re:Failure by marky_boi · · Score: 1

    Had to buy a book today.. The new local AU store was going to deliver AFTER Christmas. The US Store can have it to the local dropoff store within 8 fucking days... dohh back to the US purchasing via friends in the USA.. dumb shit Amazon

  12. Don't care until... by dohzer · · Score: 2

    I don't care until I can order ANY item on Amazon and have it shipped to Australia at the *same price.
    For the last >eternity years I've always seen the dreaded "Sorry, this item can't be shipped to your selected address."

    *Yes there will always be a conversion rate.