Amazon is making shopping easier for its Kiwi customers. From today, customers across New Zealand can visit Amazon.com.au and have products delivered direct to their door.
While Kiwis have been able to shop at the US Amazon store, having access to the Australian store will offer consumers a larger range of local products and much faster, cheaper shipping.
Amazon – which strives to be “Earth’s Most Customer-Centric Company” – rolled out its full suite of retail services in Australia in 2017 and clocked up revenues of $1.21 billion there in 2020.
“We are excited to offer Kiwis access to millions of products at great prices on Amazon.com.au, all underpinned by convenient delivery options,” said Tony Austin, General Manager of Exports for Amazon.com.au.
“We know that many New Zealand customers are already shopping on the US store and we are pleased to be offering them a faster option.”
NZ customers can now access products from thousands of brands on the Australian store, Amazon.com.au, including Bonds, Breville, L’Oreal, Mattel, Nintendo, Oculus and Tommee Tippee.
Customers will also be able to shop from the many small businesses that sell on Amazon.com.au including homegrown, small New Zealand businesses such as Serious Food Co, The Herb Farm and Bella Honey.
“Amazon Australia has provided immense support to our business from logistics through to accessing new customers. They’ve enabled us to move from the cornfields to an online marketplace much more quickly than we could have ever believed,” says Roger Holmes, founder of Serious Food Co, a family business from Auckland that harvests organic corn crops to make delicious guilt free snacks.
If you live in certain areas in Auckland and Christchurch you’ll have access to expedited delivery “as fast as three business days” to certain areas for as little as AU$6.99, and standard delivery starting at AU$2.99.
Customers will also be able to access products from small Australian businesses such as pet products from Sydney based Zenify and baby and toddler products from Little Archer & Co. from the Sunshine Coast, Queensland.
The move had been anticipated by local retailers for some time and many have been readying themselves for the competition.
Last year The Warehouse launched a subscription delivery service as part of its online shopping platform TheMarket, offering Amazon Prime-like perks such as free trials to Sky Sports Now and Neon and free shipping for orders over $45.
Other retailers will be upping their e-commerce platform ensuring it is as easy to buy from as Amazon’s site; or embracing the shopping giant by listing their products on Amazon’s Marketplace.
In America, 55 percent of shoppers start their search on Amazon, bypassing retailer’s websites and Google altogether, which makes having products on Amazon an essential marketing tool.
Despite a growing presence in New Zealand – Amazon’s Lord of the Rings TV series is shooting here at the moment, and secured a hefty tax rebate from the government – there is no indication that Amazon is planning on setting up distribution centres here.
