amazoncom inc which has lost billions overseas trying to replicate its us success is now attempting to crack one of the biggest and most sparsely populated nations where bricksandmortar retailers are king the seattlebased company which sells everything from groceries and bigscreen tvs to highend fashion says its actively looking for a warehouse as it prepares to start operations in australia anticipating a price war analysts have almost halved profit forecasts for local electronics chains such as harvey norman holdings ltd and jb hifi ltd but the worlds largest online retailer which has exported its model to germany the uk japan and most recently india faces unprecedented challenges in australia its a nation almost as large as the us but home to just 24 million people major population pockets can be 4000 kilometers 2500 miles apart driving up the cost of fast deliveries wages are higher than in most major developed nations and the quantity of red tape means its easier to do business in macedonia according to rankings by the world bank compared with the most advanced markets for internet shopping australia doesnt come close buying goods online is at least twice as popular in south korea china and the uk according to euromonitor international weve already got an entrenched group of consumers shopping with incumbent players said gary mortimer an associate professor at queensland university of technologys business school who specializes in retail and logistics there needs to be a really good offer to get them to stop and switch the cost of serving australias biggest cities from perth in the west to sydney on the eastern seaboard will undermine amazons highvolume low margin model said mortimer he spent two decades working for australian retailers including major supermarket chain coles part of wesfarmers ltd as well as department store operator myer holdings ltd when they arrive the distance is going to be a problem mortimer said one hour delivery at home amazon has a market value of 475 billion and dominates ecommerce north american revenue accounted for almost twothirds of the companys 136 billion in sales last year when net income quadrupled to 24 billion through its 99ayear amazon prime subscription the company is cutting delivery times offering batteries cleaning products or toothpaste in as little as an hour in dozens of cities the goal combine the convenience of online shopping with the instant gratification of a quick trip to the store its tougher to replicate domestic success overseas while sales at amazons international business have soared the division has posted consecutive pretax losses since 2012 totaling 22 billion as the company invests in new markets according to amazons annual reports costly business it is costly to establish develop and maintain international operations and websites amazon says in its latest report our international operations may not be profitable on a sustained basis a sydneybased representative for amazon declined to comment on the specific challenges it will face in australia or say when it will launch a retail offering