Growth, opportunity and employment.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has welcomed Amazon’s official arrival in Australia, describing it as a great opportunity for local retailers looking to enlarge their customer base and increase their sales, especially in the lead up to Christmas.
ARA executive director, Russell Zimmerman said Amazon’s entrance provides retailers both large and small an additional platform to increase their sales in such a challenging environment during the busiest time of year.
“With over 300 million active users already on Amazon’s Marketplace, the majority of Australian retailers view Amazon’s platform as a supplementary channel to their current retail offering,” Zimmerman said.
“Amazon Marketplace will provide local retailers an additional revenue stream, and Amazon’s Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) program will enable Australian retailers to eliminate bottlenecks in their supply chain.”
With the ARA and Roy Morgan Research predicting the ‘Other Retailing’ category, which includes online sales, to increase by 3.96% this Christmas, the ARA believe progressive retailers who are already on the Amazon platform are meeting consumer demands.
“Online sales currently account for more than 7% of total retail sales, and is growing at 5% annually. With the advancement in digital technologies across the retail sector, we believe online retail sales will account for 13% of total retail sales in the next five years.
“Amazon’s arrival means many things for Australian retail, it means growth, opportunity, and employment and the ARA look forward to seeing the retail industry thrive in 2018,” he added.