Confirmed: Amazon Retail Is Officially Coming To Australia

After months of speculation, Amazon has provided an official statement (finally) confirming the company will be launching retail services within Australia.

Last month, Amazon’s former global logistics senior manager, Brittain Ladd, confirmed that the company’s shopping rollout would soon include Australia – describing the country as “an attractive market” and stating Amazon would be launching “as many services and products as possible within Australia”.

The below statement, provided to Gizmodo Australia, is the first official one from Amazon on the expansion.

“Amazon Web Services launched an Australian region in 2012, we launched a Kindle Store on Amazon.com.au in 2013, and we now have almost 1,000 employees in the country,” the statement reads.

“The next step is to bring a retail offering to Australia, and we are making those plans now. We are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace.”

“We are optimistic that by focusing on the things we believe customers value most – low prices, vast selection, and fast delivery – over time we’ll earn the business of Australian customers.”

Recent expert analysis predicted a shocking result for Australian retailers within the first five years of Amazon entering the local market. We’re talking major losses for JB Hi-Fi, Myer and Harvey Norman.

The figures are so damning that Harvey Norman may have already lost market value in part based on the analysis, with Gerry Harvey taking a $100 million hit to his personal wealth.
The analysis, conducted by Swiss investment bank Credit Suisse, found Amazon setting up shop in Australia could directly result in Myer losing anywhere up to 55 per cent of its earnings over the next five years.


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