I operate a small retail business and with the impending arrival of Amazon in Australia I’m becoming particularly concerned about the potential effect on my business. What do I need to know about Amazon and is there anything that I can do to ensure that my business continues to be successful after Amazon arrives?
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If you’ve never bought anything from Amazon and/or don’t know anything about them then you would certainly be in the minority. Amazon is now the largest online retailer in the world. The company sells a huge range of products including movies, music, electronics, clothing and furniture.
If the company wasn’t intimidating enough already, it also offers fast delivery times and is branching out into selling fresh food.
With Amazon’s ability to deliver all of this, most retailers are quite rightly concerned about the company’s arrival in Australia.
Small retailers in particular should consider addressing a number of key areas:
- Updating your business’s website and increase efforts to promote it as a way of interacting with your business.
- If you don’t already have one, investigate opening an online store to begin selling your products over the internet. Ironically you could even do this through an Amazon webstore, thereby giving you access to millions of customers on amazon.com.
- Investigate delivery options to ensure that you can ship products to customers as quickly and as cost-effectively as possible.
- Enhance your service-offering by promoting your knowledge and expertise, thereby differentiating you from a pure retailer of products like Amazon. If customers can see you as a source of expertise and advice they are more likely to buy from you.
- Promote your business in your local area, including the changes that you have made to take advantage of the latest technology. Many customers prefer to shop locally, and if they can see that you are keeping your business up to date with modern technology they are less likely to look elsewhere.
For more information on getting your business ready for Amazon’s arrival please contact your Crowe Horwath adviser through albury@crowehorwath.com.au
Any information in this article has been prepared without taking into account your personal circumstances. You should seek professional advice before acting on any material.
While reasonable care is taken in the preparation of this information to the extent allowed by legislation, Crowe Horwath (Aust) Pty Ltd ABN 84 006 466 351, accepts no liability whatsoever for reliance on it.
