amazon has sold ebooks in australia since 2013 with nine out of 10 australian households already online the growth of internet retail sales will almost halve in the nation in the next five years according to ibisworld pty internet shopping will be worth a28 billion 21 billion by 2022 up from about a18 billion now the melbournebased researcher said in a november report before amazon confirmed its australian plans despite the immediate challenges australia is a key piece of amazons longterm goal of creating a global distribution network that connects buyers and sellers from many countries that warrants big initial investments without nearterm returns amazons ultimate ambition is to have the presence it has in the us everywhere in the world said james wang an internet analyst at new yorkbased ark invest theyre operating on a very long timeline and australia is another square on the chess board with operations in india and australia amazon will have key shipping hubs and inventory supplies from which it can serve southeast asia chinese internet giant alibaba group holding ltd also has its eye on the region and paid about 1 billion last year for control of lazada group sa which sells clothes and electronics online across southeast asia learning exercise the australian market is also wide open for greater competition coles and woolworths ltd alone account for more than twothirds of the a90 billion spent at australian supermarkets in the past year according to roy morgan research more than anything amazon prime will change the way australians shop said george freney sydneybased chief executive officer and cofounder of booodl pty a startup that connects shoppers with local stores if you talk to an american whos recently moved to australia and ask them what they miss most it certainly aint going to be the politics or the beer he said most of them will say amazon amazon may start selling everything from nonperishable groceries to books and electronics in australia by the end of 2017 said bryan raymond a sydneybased citigroup inc analyst whos heard feedback from local suppliers amazon prime might be available from the outset in sydney melbourne and brisbane the nations biggest cities he said the biggest difference is around density of population raymond said by phone combine that with relatively higher labor costs and it does make it a reasonably highcost market nominal wages in australia are the highest of any overseas market where amazon has a dedicated website or physical operation based on a list of countries in amazons 2016 annual report and the latest global wage report by the international labour organization a united nations agency managing costs and delivering products on time will be amazons biggest tests in australia said quts mortimer its quite a big learning exercise for a new entrant bloomberg published on jun 2 2017 at 1155 am ist telegram facebook copy link be the first one to comment comment now comments comment now read comment 1 all comments post post find this