{"id":659231,"date":"2023-01-27T08:13:46","date_gmt":"2023-01-27T06:13:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/?p=659231"},"modified":"2023-01-27T08:13:46","modified_gmt":"2023-01-27T06:13:46","slug":"amazon-pushes-back-launch-of-south-african-marketplace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/business\/659231\/amazon-pushes-back-launch-of-south-african-marketplace\/","title":{"rendered":"Amazon pushes back launch of South African marketplace"},"content":{"rendered":"

Amazon has delayed its South African marketplace launch until the end of the year, a well-placed source told Daily Investor.<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

Amazon planned to launch a marketplace in South Africa in February 2023 and secured warehouse space for its operations.<\/p>\n

Codenamed \u201cProject Fela\u201d, the eCommerce giant\u2019s plans also included the launch of its \u201cFulfillment by Amazon\u201d service for third-party sellers.<\/p>\n

Amazon\u2019s Prime membership programme was set to become available to South Africans shortly after its marketplace launch.<\/p>\n

However, Amazon CEO Andy Jassy\u2019s comments that they are focusing on costs, including laying off more than 18,000 employees, put these plans in question.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmazon has weathered uncertain and difficult economies in the past, and we will continue to do so,\u201d Jassy said.<\/p>\n

\u201cThese changes will help us pursue our long-term opportunities with a stronger cost structure.\u201d<\/p>\n

Well-placed sources close to Amazon\u2019s South African operations said the company has paused its Nigerian rollout but is continuing its local marketplace launch.<\/p>\n

However, because of the challenging environment, the South African marketplace launch has been delayed until Q3 or Q4 2023.<\/p>\n

Daily Investor asked Amazon for feedback, but the company would not comment on its South African marketplace plans.<\/p>\n

While Amazon is keeping mum on the project, its imminent marketplace launch in South Africa has been one of the worst-kept secrets in the eCommerce space.<\/p>\n

Amazon has secured warehouse space in South Africa and is working with local courier companies and fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) retailers.<\/p>\n

The Amazon.co.za domain has also previously appeared in the country drop-down list on the Amazon.com website.<\/p>\n

Amazon has started hiring people to launch its marketplace in the country. Last year it advertised numerous positions, including managerial positions relating to its \u201cZA marketplace.\u201d<\/p>\n

This article was first published on Daily Investor and reproduced with permission. Read the original here.<\/a><\/em><\/p>\n

\n

Read: Amazon still on track to launch in South Africa, insiders say<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Global eCommerce giant Amazon delays its marketplace launch in South Africa.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":93,"featured_media":643089,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9872],"tags":[657,26],"class_list":["post-659231","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-business","tag-amazon","tag-headline"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659231","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/93"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=659231"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659231\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":659885,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/659231\/revisions\/659885"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643089"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=659231"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=659231"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/businesstech.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=659231"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}