AMAZON STARTS PREPARATIONS TO LAUNCH IN SWEDEN

Amazon.com Inc has started preparations to launch in Sweden, marking its first step to establish a local presence in a Nordic country. Swedish customers can already shop on Amazon through its websites in other European countries such as Germany, and get their purchases shipped to the country, but this often meant paying high delivery charges. “We are optimistic that, by focusing on the things we believe customers will place the greatest emphasis on — low prices, a wide range and fast deliveries — we will eventually be able to win the trust of Swedish customers,” Alex Ootes, vice-president for EU Expansion at Amazon, said Tuesday. The Swedish website amazon.se was still directing customers to amazon.de with an option to deliver to Sweden. Amazon has not released a date for the website launch, a spokesman said.