Amazon Restores Access to US and International Stores in Australia

• Amazon had blocked Australian users from accessing the e-commerce giant’s US store earlier this year.
• The company was forced to enforce the change due to GST collection laws that were put in place.
• Access to the websites was restored on November 22 after customers lashed out at Amazon.

A change in Australia’s GST collection laws that implemented a 10% tax on imports (of goods worth under $1,000) forced Amazon to close access to its US and international websites. Users in the country were restricted to Amazon.com.au, and after months of backlash, the e-commerce giant has restored access to its international websites.

An Amazon spokesperson revealed that the decision was upturned due to feedback from the Australian community. Eligible Australian delivery addresses can receive products from Amazon.com like before as long as all import duties are paid for. It was surprising to see the e-commerce company withdraw access to the international website as many regions in the world are able to order from the international website. In addition to the shipping costs, Amazon charges users import duties directly at the time of purchase to make it a hassle-free experience.

According to Asset Management Daniel Mueller from Vertium, the move by Amazon was a reaction to the e-commerce website not doing well in the country. According to Vertium, the e-commerce company’s market in the US is just one-ninth of its US market. However, in the company’s defense, only Kindles and eBooks were available on the Australian store, and it is slowly expanding into other categories.

With international purchases being restored and more products being added to the local variant of the website, the company can expect an increasing market share. The change was made just before Black Friday, which is one the peak shopping season in many parts of the world as well as in Australia. There are some special deals going on as well on the international website which can attract a number of Australian shoppers to the website.

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