THE Australian pharmacy sector faces a new threat - or opportunity - in the form of US online retailing giant Amazon, which has today confirmed it will roll out a full retail offering here from next year.
This morning the company posted a notice on its Australian portal inviting businesses to join an Australian version of the 'Amazon Marketplace' - essentially an online supermarket where small business vendors can utilise the company's e-commerce expertise to sell their products to a wider audience.
Described as a "new wave of retail disruption," the company is estimated to already hold 1% of the Australian market for health and beauty products.
In the US, Amazon accounts for 43% of all online retail sales and last year the health and beauty sector contributed 10% to its overall sales growth.
According to Fairfax, about 50% of the company's revenue comes from third party sellers, while the company is also understood to be on the hunt for a large distribution centre in Australia.
Amazon already has about 1,000 Australian staff, with the company saying "we are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace".
Australian pharmacy retailers and suppliers are seeing strong success in similar online marketplaces in China, with Chemist Warehouse, Blackmores, Swisse and Nature's Way among the top local brands available on Alibaba's Tmall.
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