On Monday 13 November, Amazon hosted its first Australian Seller Summit in Sydney, in partnership with the Australian Retailers Association and the SME Association of Australia.

The event was attended by 500 smaller retailers interested in selling on Amazon Marketplace, the third-party selling platform which accounts for more than half of the company’s global sales.

“We held the Seller Summit to encourage and educate Australian businesses on how they can use Amazon Marketplace to take their products to a global audience,” says Amazon Australia country manager Rocco Braeuniger (pictured), a keynote speaker at the event.

The recently appointed Braeuniger did not name a date for the long-anticipated local launch. Analysts and industry commentators are still predicting a release before Christmas, with some putting their money on Black Friday – 24 November – a massive day on the US retail calendar which has been gaining popularity in global markets like ours in recent years.

The Amazon Marketplace and Amazon direct sales platform will form the two key elements of the brand’s operations in Australia.

Sellers using Amazon Marketplace will pay a monthly fee – entitling them to list unlimited products – and a commission on items sold. A fulfilment service by Amazon will include warehousing and sending of items purchased, though this service will launch at a later date to the national opening.

“We are proud to have been a part of today’s Amazon Marketplace Seller Summit,” says Mark Flack, board member SME Association of Australia (SMEAA).

“The SMEAA is focused on enabling small businesses of Australia to network and learn from each other to ensure success. Any form of education that helps to empower small businesses, and increase their confidence with digital platforms, is a win in our eyes,” he says.

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Further reading

• FEATURE: Local brands versus Amazon – how the very best deliver customer service »
• Will Amazon claim a bigger portion of the advertising pie than Google or Facebook? »

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