Amazon to Cease eCommerce Operations in China
Amazon has announced that it will cease its eCommerce operations in China, citing stiff competition with Chinese marketplaces Alibaba and JD.com as the reason.
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Starting July 18, third-party sellers can no longer sell on Amazon.cn and receive seller support, but China-based shoppers will still be able to shop for products sold by international sellers, including those in the US, UK, Denmark, Germany, and Japan.
In its official statement, Amazon said it will be focusing on cross-border trade as imported brands are very popular among Chinese customers.
“Over the past few years, we have been evolving our China online retail business to increasingly emphasize cross-border sales, and in return we’ve seen very strong response from Chinese customers. Their demand for high-quality, authentic goods from around the world continues to grow rapidly, and given our global presence, Amazon is well-positioned to serve them.” – Amazon Spokesperson
Chinese retailers, however, can still continue to sell their products to overseas customers through Amazon’s global site.
Did Amazon fall short of Chinese customers’ expectations?
While Amazon offers a wide variety of products, its local counterparts are faster in delivering goods to Chinese customers, according to analysts in China.
They added that Alibaba, JD.com, and other Chinese eCommerce platforms would aggressively come up with strong marketing campaigns to push the sales of their products on Singles Day, an area which Amazon lacked focus in.
Amazon’s ticket to China’s eCommerce market was its acquisition of Joyo.com in 2004, which it renamed to Amazon China in 2011. Despite the shutdown of its Chinese marketplace, the online retail giant’s Amazon Web Services and Kindle e-books will continue to operate in the country.
What are your thoughts on Amazon China’s closure? Share them with us in comments below or over in our Facebook Group.
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Wow, this is a big move to pull out. This goes to show that Chinese companies have a big advantage within the country than international foreign countries.