Amazon’s countdown
Online giant’s Australian launch imminent
AMAZON’S country manager for Australia has revealed the online retail behemoth is on the verge of its launch here.
Asked about a launch date for Amazon’s Australian service, Rocco Braeuniger said: “We are getting really close. We will bring thousands of jobs to Australia – we’ll invest millions of dollars.”
The 43-year-old German – who ran Amazon’s consumer business in five different European countries before arriving here in August – was speaking at a summit for prospective sellers in Sydney.
Mr Braeuniger said “many thousands” of registered sellers were ready to sell goods locally, either directly to customers or through the e-commerce titan’s first Australian centre in Dandenong. Under Amazon’s fulfilment scheme, it handles warehousing and mailing on behalf of sellers.
Amazon staff have been working for months building its Australian retail website.
Speculation is rife that the local incarnation – selling products sent from the Dandenong warehouse – will launch as soon as this month.
Mr Braeuniger said Amazon was not just a retailer but also a technology company, movie studio and logistics company.
The US group operates in two modes, acting as a retailer – buying and selling, just as other retailers do – but also provides a marketplace for sellers who send products themselves or through Amazon’s logistics network. A bullish Amazon Australia manager Rocco Braeuniger ahead of his company’s imminent launch in this country
Mr Braeuniger said more than half of the products Amazon sold was through that marketplace.
Last year, more than 100,000 sellers each sold more than $US100,000 (A$130,000) worth of goods that way.
“It’s very easy to see why the market system is such a cool element of our overall business,” Mr Braeuniger said.
He said Amazon had four types of customers: creators such as authors who publish using the Kindle e-book platform, enterprises that used Amazon web services, consumers and sellers.
“We will bring thousands of jobs in Australia – we’ll invest millions of dollars,” he said.
Amazon sells in 185 countries and has more than 300 million active sellers but Australia will be just the 13th country where it operates directly.