How to Break Into Amazon Australia

Amazon Australia launched in December 2017 — the e-commerce giant’s thirteenth global marketplace. According to data from Marketplace Pulse, there were 20,000 third-party sellers on Amazon.com.au in August. The marketplace is on pace to exceed 50,000 sellers by year end. With 70 new sellers joining the Australian Amazon platform each day, Amazon.com.au has become the fastest growing Amazon marketplace relative to its size.

In July, Amazon established a regulation that local customers who want their products sent to an Australian address will only be able to purchase items from Amazon’s Australian website. This means that Australians can no longer buy products on Amazon.com. Amazon needed to implement this regulation to remain compliant with Goods and Services Tax (GST) collection laws in Australia. If a customer attempts to use the U.S. website, they will get redirected back to the local one.

With 45% of Australians already shopping on Amazon sites overseas, this shift to using solely the Amazon Australia site allowed the Australian Amazon ecosystem to ramp up, increase sales, and gradually begin taking market share from existing Australian e-commerce sites. The company launched Prime in Australia in June, opening the door to an even larger number of conversions with the most loyal and affluent buyers now having the opportunity to get free, two-day delivery, among other benefits.

How Can You Expand Your Operation to Amazon Australia?

Whether you are a seller or brand on Amazon, if you have established a sound, profitable Amazon business domestically, chances are that you are well-equipped to take the next step — implementing an international selling strategy and beginning to sell product overseas in one of Amazon’s marketplaces, such as Australia. We have rounded up a few key steps for you to take when it comes to deciding on the right marketplace, choosing with SKUs to launch in a new market, and navigating effective communication with the new customer base.

Identify Which Items to Sell

Once you have confirmed that your business has an opportunity to expand abroad, you need to research and master the product selection. In order to find out which items to sell in a new market, you should complete a thorough competitive analysis. You will need to know which of your items are already being sold and in what countries. You should also compile price comparisons on each item, ideally including shipping costs. Remember that in this case you will be competing with existing, domestic sellers in Australia, so shipping costs can be a deciding factor for a sale. Lastly, examine your competitors’ listing prices to garner tips on how to better sell in your new target country.

Set up New ASINs

Any product that is not already listed in your target Amazon country will need to be created as a new ASIN. If you have a small number of SKUs, you can list them all. This will maximize your Amazon presence in the new location faster. However, with a larger catalogue, you’ll have to be more selective. Data such as sales statistics in different markets can help you pick which items to start with. Another best practice is to observe where your competition has expanded and how they have done.

Incorporate Advertising Into Your Strategy

Launching products in a new, international market can sometimes be challenging. How can you get your product detail pages in front of more customers? To begin, you can create the listing page from scratch and ensures it follows best practices for conversion if you are the first seller to list the product. If you are not the first seller, you need to make sure that your keywords are relevant in order to rank in organic search. Also, make sure your product pages (including titles, bullet points, and images) are optimized. Next, you should set up pay-per-click advertising such as Amazon Sponsored Products to help drive traffic and discoverability to your listings.

Manage an International Portfolio

When you are selling globally, many factors can influence your product sales performance. Below are some of the most important business metrics for success in any market. Tracking them by market will give you insights to make solid business decisions:

• Product demand and sales by country

• Buy Box share and competition per country

• Estimated ROI per ASIN

• Pricing in each country

• Average profit per item across all your selling channels

• Trends, seasonality, and rankings

• Return and refund rates and their impact on shipping costs

• ACoS (advertising cost of sale)

Utilizing AI-driven software can help you manage your global portfolio and reveal where your products perform best. It can also provide key information for making business-critical decisions about inventory, pricing, and demand. As well, it will provide layered views, from the global portfolio level to the specific marketplace, storefront, or SKU level. And it will present a full view of the product life cycle, from selling to buying, ensuring that you can make decisions at any point in the life cycle.

Final Thoughts

Going into other Amazon marketplaces, such as Australia, can be a great way to add more revenue and profit. It’s important to understand how  Amazon Australia will be different from selling in the U.S. or other marketplaces. Consider any differences to tax and shipping laws that could impact the products you sell. Amazon is always fine-tuning the customer experience and personalization is increasing across online retail. So, cultivating positive feedback and customer support is super important when entering a new market. 

[This is a guest post from Catie Grasso, content marketing writer at Feedvisor]