Quote from: Jan Hurst-Nicholson on May 09, 2024, 02:18:41 AM

I am concerned about what it means to selling on Amazon.co.za. 

Give them time to get it going.

The lack of Amazon products may simply be someone goofed on the delivery of them to whatever warehouse is being used there. Could be stuck on a ship and delayed for some reason. Amazon would never admit something like that.

They haven't had time to process any orders yet.

But many South Africans who have been eagerly awaiting the megaretailer’s launch will be disappointed to learn that none of the Amazon-specific products and services that accompany its retail operations in other markets is available locally.

There are no listings for the Kindle e-reader, Fire TV smart TV device, Ring video doorbell or Alexa voice assistant-capable Amazon smart speakers. Ironically, a quick search on South African e-commerce site takealot.com, which is seen as Amazon’s most formidable rival in South Africa, shows multiple listings of Amazon products including the Echo Dot smart speakers as well as an assortment of Fire TV sticks, Fire tablets and more.

None of Amazon’s digital services is available either, including Amazon Music or the much-anticipated Amazon Prime, which bundles its e-commerce offering and various digital services into a single subscription plan. Only Amazon Prime Video is available to South African consumers, though that was launched here years ago.

A like-for-like comparison shows that Amazon’s South African offering is similar to Takealot’s. But the large number of listed products on amazon.co.za labelled as out of stock – this includes most smartphones including the Samsung Galaxy S24 range and the iPhone 15 range, for example – suggests that Takealot leads, for now, in terms of its product offering.

Nothing about Amazon’s offering screams Amazon, especially given its own products are not available.

Australia doesn't get everything either, although some things have been added over the years.

But we still don't get Music.

I am concerned about what it means to selling on Amazon.co.za. 

Yeah, it might be the time difference from Australia to US. I know my preorders are distributed in other countries the day before. My preorder shows the correct date but I published it in the US.

If it goes live from the US, it should show Australia as the next day, not the previous one. But they're all supposed to go live at the same time, where pre-orders release one at a time as midnight comes around for each store.

I've never done pre-orders.

Australia doesn't get everything either, although some things have been added over the years.

But we still don't get Music.