Amazon’s Australian opening puts local retailers on edge

After nearly a year of hype, Amazon has launched in Australia. And they’re offering massive discounts to attract new customers.

Amazon Australia is offering discounts off a range of products, including DVDs and toys.

After nearly a year of hype, Amazon has launched its Australian retail site, with millions of products, including cosmetics, clothing and electronics, for sale here online.

Everything from kitchen goods to shoes, tools, watches and non-prescription pharmaceuticals can be bought from amazon.com.au, through an online account and an internet browser or Amazon’s smartphone apps.

Some of Australia’s most well known retailers, such as JB Hi-Fi, Harvey Norman, Officeworks and Kmart, Target and Big W, are emerging as the first to feel the heat of Amazon’s launch as the US retail giant targets their key categories. A second string of national retailers, ranging from Baby Bunting to Rebel Sport, and department stores Myer and David Jones, are also in the firing line.

Available products are either acquired and sold directly by Amazon, or advertised by merchants on Amazon’s Australian site and ­dispatched by those merchants.

In a briefing to The Australian yesterday, Amazon said some of its services would come online slowly — not everything would be available at launch. Gaining market share in Australia would take time.

Specials at launch on Amazon’s Australian website

The launch heralds a tough ­period for the nation’s $300 billion retail sector. Analysts and experts forecast the launch and rollout of a portfolio of retail services by ­Amazon could capture as much as $200 million in sales this Christmas and quickly grow to billions of dollars as shoppers sign up.

With less than three weeks ­before Christmas, Amazon is ­offering up to 30 per cent off ­selected toy brands, including ­Barbie, Batman, Hot Wheels, ­Disney Cars, Fisher-Price, ­Thomas the Tank Engine, and board games.

In fashion, Amazon is offering 30 per cent off on selected Calvin Klein men’s and women’s underwear, and 30 per cent off select Tommy Hilfiger men’s and women’s polos.

“By concentrating on providing a great shopping experience and by constantly innovating on behalf of customers, we hope to earn the trust and the custom of Australian shoppers in the years to come,” Amazon’s country manager, Rocco Braeuniger, told The ­Australian.

Amazon plans to offer free ­delivery on orders above $49. ­Delivery would take three to seven days in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Canberra, Perth and major ­regional areas of Victoria, NSW and South Australia. Otherwise delivery is between seven and 10 days, or longer in some remote areas.

New retail categories on Amazon's Australian website

With only one warehouse ­nationally, in Dandenong South, Victoria, Amazon is yet to offer one or two-hour deliveries as it does in the US and Britain. Same-day delivery, as part of Amazon Prime, a membership package, is set to launch next year. The only Prime elements available now are Prime Video and Twitch Prime. Membership is $US2.99 ($4) a month.

Merchants who worked with Amazon overseas would sell their goods here. Prominent Australian brands, among them small and medium-sized businesses, include Bonds and Sol-Sana, Puma, Lego, L’Oreal and Sonos. Initial deals ­include a one-month supply of Huggies nappies for $65, including delivery, new release DVDs ­including season one of The Crown from $15.98, and 20 per cent off some Sunbeam ­appliances.

0Online retailer Amazon's new distribution warehouse in Dandenong, Victoria. Photo: Stuart McEvoy

Kindle e-readers sell from $109, Kindle Paperwhite costs $179 and the new Kindle Oasis sells from $389. Amazon’s new set-top-box, the Fire TV Stick Basic Edition, is available for $69. Personal assistant devices Echo and Echo Dot will sell in Australia next year.

Amazon says it pays postage for items eligible for free returns, returned within 30 days of receipt. The company said globally more than 100,000 sellers made more than $US100,000 in revenue last year. About half of Amazon’s products come from Marketplace sellers.

Amazon won’t say specifically how many staff it employs in Australia and how many sellers are aboard. It just says there “thousands” of sellers and “millions” of products available.

But it has disclosed that its corporate offices in Sydney, Melbourne, Perth, Brisbane and Canberra have employed more than 1,000 staff. Amazon had been advertising heavily for staff in Australia for much of this year.