Amazon Launches In OZ, Hit & Miss Site, Prices NOT Cheap
Amazon has launched in Australia, but it appears to be a hit and miss affair with some prices equal to JB Hi FI while some products are more expensive than the bricks and mortar retailer.
It also appears that he site has been rushed with some SKU’s featuring the wrong image and devoid of extensive content information that Amazon traditionally delivers.
PC Call of Duty Black OPS 3 is selling on Amazon for $79. The same SKU at JB Hi Fi is $59.
In the Hi Fi section Sonos and Sennheiser appear to be the big manufacturers brands a Sonos Play One is listed at $229 at JB Hi Fi while on Amazon the product is selling for the same price.
It also appears that some marketplace participants in particular distributors have set up separate Companies to sell on Amazon. While there are hundreds of Amazon Basic cables listed there is limited mainstream brands, in some cases Companies like Acer are ranging products currently not being sold via retailers in Australia.
In the router category several Netgear products including their Orbi AC3000. At JB Hi Fi the device is listed at $598. Amazon is selling the same device for $499 with free delivery. The supplier is listed as Netgear direct.
Also in the Networking section Cisco networking gear is being offered despite the Company having no retail presence in Australia.
Missing from the site are listings for the Amazon Alexa or Echo.
The iPhone 7 Plus (128GB 4G LTE) is selling on Amazon for $1375. At JB Hi Fi the price is $1199. Likewise, the Samsung Galaxy S8 currently commands a price tag of $1570.87 on Amazon.
The GoPro HERO5 Black GPCHDHX-501 is selling on Amazon for $699. At JB Hi Fi the price is $499.
A Lenovo ThinkPad P51 (E3-1505M v6) for an eye-watering $5,732.95. The same machine goes for $3799 on Lenovo’s Australian website.
A 65″ Samsung QLED Series 7 TV was offered for $5,999 on Amazon, but on JB Hi-Fi’s website, the same television is on sale for just $3,996.
Traditional Amazon features extensive content in their SKU’s a classic example is Sonos who use the Webcollage engine to deliver content to both mass retailers and Amazon. This content is missing from the Australian site.
We also noticed that several of their products were listed as being available for ‘The first time’ on November 23rd which was Black Friday the day that Amazon was tipped to originally launch.
With 23 product categories, the Australian launch is broader than in some other markets it has launched in, which include Spain, Canada, the United Kingdom and Ireland, Italy Brazil and Japan.
In Australia, next-day delivery will cost $9.99 in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Canberra. Customers in Perth and regional cities in Victoria, NSW and SA will pay $11.99 for delivery within two days.
Saturday deliveries will be available for those capital cities. Priority shipping to all other areas will cost $19.99.
“Expedited delivery” of two to three days will cost $5.99 for eastern capitals and $7.99 for Perth. Free shipping will be available on orders direct from Amazon worth over $49, but will take between three days and a week to arrive.
But customers will have to wait until mid-next year to sign up to its popular Prime subscription service, which gives members free express shipping. Amazon said its two-hour delivery “Prime Now” service would not be available until sometime after that.
In the Hi Fi section the suppliers are listed as CustomHT, The Beach Head, Stereo Supplies, Swamp Industries, Amazon AU, You Buy Online Pty Ltd, AVREV, BestBuy Online Store AU, Aomais thinkofus.store.
Some of these Companies are not listed with ASIC. One of these Companies is owned by a leading Melbourne based Hi Fi distributor in Australia.
More to follow.