KATE THOMPSON DAVY: Amazon arrives — and it can afford to play the waiting game
The local market appears to be a tough nut to crack, or at least to turn a profit in
The number one tech news story in SA this week is the launch of Amazon’s local portal, amazon.co.za, an e-commerce prophesy that’s been foretold for aeons and delayed repeatedly. Without so much as a press release to announce itself, Amazon SA’s site resolved into a whole new realm on May 7 — the first Amazon marketplace on the African continent.
The site is intended to be a shiny portal of enticement for SA consumers, one that established e-commerce players such as Takealot and Bidorbuy, bricks and mortar retailers and hybrid types such as Makro have been preparing for. Now the real test has arrived. Will Amazon land like a juggernaut and forever change the scene, or will the same small buying market and dubious delivery conditions confound the giant?..
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