Retail roundtable: Is Amazon’s Australian ban a game-changer?

Retail giant Amazon caused a stir on Thursday when it announced that come July 1, Australian shoppers will no longer be able to buy goods from its international websites.

Instead, from the start of next month, Australians will automatically be directed to the recently launched Amazon Australia site.

Amazon said on Thursday the decision to stop shoppers from importing goods via its sites is a direct result of the upcoming change to the goods and services tax, which will see GST applied to all online purchases from overseas sellers under $1000 for the first time.

Local retailers have long argued for GST to be collected on these so-called low value items, but global shopping platforms like Amazon have fought the government on exactly how the tax should be collected.

Australians can currently access some 480 million products via amazon.com, but in a matter of weeks, the selection on offer will drop to the 60 million products available through the Amazon Australia site, plus another 4 million products that will be added to a ‘global site’ within the Australian platform. Read more

Eloise Keating - Smart Company - 1 June 2018