Amazon coming to Australia has been a hot topic over the last 12 months. Some businesses have feared the perceived competition whilst others have focused on using the online marketplace to their advantage. Whichever way you feel about Amazon hitting Aussie shores, ready or not, here it comes.

The most significant change that Amazon will bring to the retail industry is the impact to customer expectation. Businesses around the country have already started to adapt to the changing landscape by emulating Amazon’s most profitable feature – customer engagement.

Here’s three ways that you can use the arrival of Amazon to Australia to benefit your business:

  1. Improve the way you communicate with your customers

What better time to rethink your marketing strategy than with the arrival of a big player in the online space? Amazon’s customer engagement and delivery will change the way shoppers interact with Australian businesses and their perception of what good service and engagement look like. Businesses that want to thrive in this new market will need to be ready to match Amazon’s quality of engagement.

Investing in and leveraging customer engagement and marketing technology will aid Australian businesses in building emotional connections with their customers. This will be a crucial aspect of competitiveness in an increasingly aggressive e-commerce sector.

Australian businesses have nothing to fear from Amazon if at the heart of all their future marketing decisions is improving customer engagement – in fact, with the right strategy; Amazon Australia could help grow Australian business across the world.

  1. Use Amazon as part of your sales strategy

Create your own Amazon Seller Account. It makes business sense to collaborate instead of compete when dealing with a company with such proven success. Once Amazon fully launches and has well-stocked fulfilment centres the market will swiftly be terraformed and businesses will be entering late on an upward curve.

It is those fulfilment centres that could completely change e-commerce businesses for the better. Amazon is well known for selling practically everything under the sun but what it excels at is not having an unfathomably large catalogue of products but being the complete online retailer.

Still not sold on the idea? Then consider this: Australian businesses can use the Fulfilment By Amazon system to massively reduce overheads and provide them with more time and resources to focus on world-class customer engagement. FBA lets business leave their domestic retail logistics with Amazon who will warehouse their goods and dispatch them more quickly and cost-effectively than many businesses could do themselves. It’s the ‘bulk buying’ of logistics in that sense.

Although FBA is not required to sell through Amazon and businesses who wish to retain fulfilment control will still benefit from being catalogued on Amazon.

  1. Access New Markets

Amazon is a globally recognised brand with an unparalleled reach. Married with the reputation of Australian-made products, we have a recipe for success.  A trusted supplier plus a trusted brand platform equals confidence to buy – especially if those products aren’t typically available in the buyers’ home market. This means that suddenly, you will have a brand-new market of global customers ready to take a look at your goods.

The best news is that Australians are already using Amazon! Plenty of businesses around the world are already shipping their products to Australia. This demonstrates how trusted Amazon is as a brand as Australians already buy products from international businesses with complete confidence via Amazon. Give them a chance to buy locally and they’ll take it with just as much confidence. Plus, faster shipping will have them clicking ‘Add to Cart’ on Aussie made products in no time.

There is no doubt that Amazon’s arrival in Australia will change the business landscape from here on in for many retailers, putting pressure on physical stores and setting new standards for e-commerce retailers alike. However, the opportunity for businesses to increase their online presence, reach new audiences and scale their operation is there. They just have to be ready to take it.