Amazon FBA Open For Business in Australia

Amazon has announced that starting Tuesday, they will offer Amazon FBA services in Australia. Amazon FBA provides the opportunity for third-party marketplace sellers to use Amazon’s warehouse for storage and fulfilment on a per order percentage based fee.

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Opening up Amazon FBA in Australia could be considered the second phase of its expansion in the country. Just launched about three months ago, Amazon Australia third-party merchants fulfilled orders themselves.

Between the company operating fulfillment out of only one warehouse in Melbourne, and most sellers also just working out of one location, there have been complaints from Amazon customers about slow deliveries in remote areas.

While this announcement may not solve this problem yet, it is a vital step in the right direction. It is believed a second Amazon fulfillment may come online later this year in the Sydney area, which will go a long way to help its delivery operations in heavier populated southeast Australia.

Australia Post Current Partner

Amazon has not ruled out using other partners for delivery in Australia or setting up its own delivery network, but currently, the company relies on Australia Post for shipments.

The Amazon FBA service will help third-party marketplace sellers to become more competitive with larger businesses.

“We are focused on helping Australian businesses of all sizes succeed by inventing on their behalf and making our technology available to them and FBA is a fantastic example of this. Customers shopping on amazon.com.au will be able to access an ever growing and more unique range of products accompanied by the convenience of fast delivery and Amazon’s world-class customer service.”

Amit Mahto, Head of Amazon FBA Australia

One other common complaint from Australian customers has been the wide range of pricing as many sellers included shipping costs in lower-priced goods.

With Amazon FBA, the giant eCommerce retailer handles the packing and shipping for a flat fee. This will be a significant benefit to sellers as buyers can bundle products into a single order of $49 or more to receive free shipping.

Amazon still aims for Prime subscription service to become available in Australia sometime this year. Once Prime rolls out, this should bring familiar 1-Day and 2-Day options to at least major metro areas in Australia.

How Amazon plans to handle the more remote locations or when it may bring additional warehouses online that can handle other population centers around Australia is still unknown.

For Australian seller that have not signed up to sell on Amazon.com.au, the company offers additional information here.

Do you sell on Amazon in Australia? If so, we would love to hear your feedback. Head over to our Facebook Discussion Group or use the comments section below to voice your thoughts.

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