Whether you’re already a global brand on Amazon or wondering if now is the time to take your brand global, we’ve got the details on Amazon marketplaces launched in the last year you should know about and consider. Read on to learn about Amazon’s marketplaces in the Netherlands, Singapore, and the United Arab Emirates.
The Netherlands
First, Amazon.nl in the Netherlands. This is Amazon’s most recent marketplace launch, opening on March 10 of this year. Over 30,000 sellers worldwide were present for the launch, which is more than any other previous Amazon marketplace launch—previously the record was held by the United Arab Emirates with 10,000 sellers. According to MarketplacePulse, the large number of sellers is due in part to many of them already existing as sellers in other European marketplaces.
This is Amazon’s 17th global marketplace and its sixth in Europe. MarketplacePulse suggested the Netherlands launch indicates Amazon will open more European markets soon. In the meantime, the Netherlands is positioned well to take advantage of already existing infrastructure in surrounding European countries; for example, fulfillment centers in Germany will handle all the orders.
“It will be interesting to see how traffic shifts away from the Germany website to the new Netherlands website, as Germany has typically been the largest Amazon marketplace in the EU. Do they lose that if they lose their Dutch market?” asks Kevin Lamb, Marketplace Insights Specialist at Pattern. “Either way, the money is going into Amazon’s pocket so I’m not sure they’re really concerned.”
It also remains to be seen how Amazon will perform up against the large and well-beloved Dutch ecommerce platform Bol.com, Lamb said. But with the largest number of sellers at an Amazon launch ever, we’d say Bol.com has some real competition.
In 2018, the most popular ecommerce categories for the Netherlands were practically all of them: travel and tickets, telecommunication, consumer electronics, hardware and software, clothing and shoes, and media.
Singapore
Technically, Amazon.sg launched in Singapore in 2017 with its fast delivery service through the Prime Now app. But in October 2019, Amazon officially launched in the country with close to 500 third-party marketplace sellers.
Singapore is the smallest country Amazon has launched in terms of population, with less than 6 million people. But it’s commonly seen as a springboard into bigger Southeast Asian countries such as Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam, which have a total combined population around 560 million with internet users around 300 million. However, it does face fierce competition with Alibaba and Shopee.
According to Lamb, electronics, media, and fashion are the largest ecommerce categories in Singapore, but Amazon Singapore is trying to drive traffic specifically to its baby category this year with its very first Amazon Baby Fair.
United Arab Emirates
Rounding out the list we have is the United Arab Emirates. Amazon launched in the UAE at the end of April 2019, replacing Souq.com, the largest ecommerce platform which Amazon.ae acquired for $580 million in 2017.
Amazon launched in the UAE with more than 10,000 sellers, most of which were from Europe and the U.S., according to Marketplace Pulse. In total there were about 30 million products already available, and Fulfillment By Amazon was also immediately available to sellers. Prior to launching in Singapore, this was the smallest country Amazon had launched in, population wise. As of the April launch, Souq.com is still available in Saudi Arabia and Egypt, but Amazon will likely replace it in those countries as well.
Ecommerce in the UAE constitutes 10% of all sales. Top categories are consumer electronics, computers, fashion accessories, women’s apparel, cosmetics, and perfumes.
There doesn’t seem to be any hard data as to where Amazon will launch next, but rest assured that 2020 is the year Amazon will see exponential growth in all of its 17 global marketplaces—any one of which could be your next opportunity! Learn more and make a plan for going global by contacting us here at Pattern
