If recent predictions from the Luxembourg branch of Amazon are correct, winter 2015 could see a record-breaking Christmas for European businesses selling on its Marketplace.
The electronic commerce company announced on Tuesday that increase offers from third-party Marketplace sellers could see Amazon experiencing its best ever sales. Other reasons were cited as these sellers participating in Amazon Christmas deal events for the first time, selling across more of Amazon's international website's and increasing their use of Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) so that their products are included amongst Prime shipping benefits and other Amazon free shipping programmes.
In the last quarter, 46% of units purchaded by customers on Amazon's worldwide websites were reportedly sold by third-party sellers, predominantly comprised of small and medium enterprises (SMEs). Marketplace sellers play a significant role in helping Amazon offer a wide selection by listing diverse products from homemade artisan goods to high-end consumer electronics. Tens of thousands of European businesses now sell online on Amazon.
"Marketplace sellers are experiencing very rapid growth and playing an integral part in delighting customers," commented François Saugier, Director of EU Seller Services at Amazon Core Europe. "For our third-party businesses we anticipate the biggest festive season ever as a result of using services such as Fulfilment by Amazon and Global Selling, which together offer any seller access to Amazon's 100-plus global fulfilment centre network, 11 websites in 7 languages, and 294 million customers around the world."
"The festive season represents a 40% increase in sales and takes us over the £1 million a month barrier," said Ray Qudos of Uk-based RDX.
Jörg Loebner, of Germany's oldest toy store Spielwaren Carl Loebner, stated that "For toy stores such as us, the holiday season means all hands on deck: Since the beginning of November, we have been shipping about 1,000 parcels per day via Amazon Marketplace," before estimating a "20% increase in orders this year" for his company.
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