5 websites, 5 languages, 28 fulfillment centers in 7 countries – Amazon makes it easy for European businesses to connect with customers in every corner of Europe
Luxembourg, 29 April, 2015: Amazon Marketplace enables tens of thousands of businesses in Europe to sell their products to Amazon customers. Increasingly, these sellers are reaching customers living outside their home countries – both across borders within Europe and around the world.
Today, Amazon announced that in the past year businesses selling on its EU websites earned a record €2.8 billion in revenue from exports within the EU. This is in addition to the billions of euros EU sellers earned from purchases made by Amazon customers living in their home countries (i.e. UK seller to UK customer) and outside of Europe (German seller to U.S. customer). Amazon also announced that the number of EU businesses exporting their products to customers outside of their home country increased nearly 50% in the past 12 months.
“Amazon has approached Europe as a single market since we launched here more than 15 years ago. We operate marketplaces in five different languages with over 100 million products, and ship products to customers across the EU from 28 fulfillment centers – both for Amazon and on behalf of our sellers,” said Francois Saugier, Amazon Director of EU Seller Services. “European businesses are able to sell on any of our websites, to any customer, anywhere in Europe. Plus, many of these businesses are using Fulfillment by Amazon, which means they simply send their inventory to one of our fulfillment centers across Europe and we will take care of the rest, ensuring fast delivery to customers around Europe and across the world.”
Amazon offers a range of services and tools that take the complexity out of selling across EU borders:
· One-click solution to sell on all Amazon EU websites – with a single click, sellers can launch product listings from one country website to all five of Amazon’s EU websites, and manage it all from a single seller account.
· European Fulfillment Network & Local Language Customer Service – Amazon has 28 fulfillment centers distributed across 7 countries in Europe, as well as Customer Service centers that are able to help customers in their local language. With Fulfillment by Amazon (FBA), sellers can ship their products to one of these centers and Amazon will take care of the rest, fulfilling orders across the world and managing customer service. Plus, when sellers use FBA, their products are eligible for Amazon’s popular Prime and Free Super Saver Delivery.
· Translation technology – Amazon translates sellers’ product names and descriptions to any of five languages.
European Businesses Selling Across Borders
Andrea and Francesco Baldi, Baldiflex, Italy said: “We manufacture and distribute high-quality mattresses all across Europe. In 2008, we rebuilt the family business, originally founded by our father and uncle after a key customer – a mattress manufacturer that supplied the majority of our sales – terminated the relationship and put the business in jeopardy. We were scared. However, just when we were on the point of quitting, we decided to persevere and push the business forward, making a debut on Amazon.it in 2012. Online sales increased slowly but steadily. We were excited by the potential to boost deliveries abroad and recently took advantage of Amazon Logistics, which has saved time preparing deliveries and made it easier for us to reach customers across Europe. We’ve already received orders from as far away as Norway and Cyprus.”
Florent and Stephanie Ducauroix, Les Poulettes Bijoux, France said: “We started in 2009 - designers from all over Europe contribute to the creation of unique, contemporary jewels made with high-end materials. Every piece is designed and assembled in the EU - Amazon allowed us to export this European know-how through the world. We began selling first on our own website and then on the Marketplace of Amazon.fr in 2011. Selling our creations on Amazon.fr enabled us to double our sales in one year. Now we ship our products to customers all over the world and we have opened new stores on Amazon Marketplace in Germany, United-Kingdom, Spain, Italy, and even in the United States. 35% of our sales are for international customers.”
Callum Bush, MediaDevil, UK said: “Selling on Amazon Marketplace has allowed us to put MediaDevil's mobile device accessories in front of millions of customers internationally. I launched on Amazon.co.uk in 2009, operating out of my bedroom. MediaDevil is now an award winning global brand, with more than one million products sold – selling not only on the UK Marketplace but also in Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Spain and the US. We meet overseas demand by using Fulfillment by Amazon to dispatch orders, and have expanded the business to open offices in London, Las Vegas and Milan. We’ve been fortunate enough to win awards, such as the UK Trade and Investment’s 2011 Business Innovation Award. This has allowed us to expand our product range, and at the same time support local producers. For example, our Magicpotion gadget screen cleaning spray was formulated and is made in the UK, and the handcrafted leather cases in our Artisan Collection are made in Europe by skilled craftsmen. We intend to launch further UK-made products this year.”
Iris Hornung, Juwelier IRIS Jewels & Emotions, Germany said: “15 minutes after the launch of our jewellery shop on Amazon.de, we had already sold our first watch. Amazon dispatches our orders directly so that we can really concentrate on our jewellery and providing personal advice to our customers. We now offer our products across France, the UK and Germany with Italy and Spain lined up for next year.”
Jean-François Asset, Boutikazic, France said: “Selling on Amazon has resulted in greater sales and an expanding customer base. Best of all, my musical instruments and accessories are available on all of Amazon’s European Marketplaces and they’ve even been shipped to the other side of the world – I recently sent a drumhead to a customer in Australia.”
Jose Antonio Nocelo, NR Solutions, Spain said: “When my child was born I wanted to change my life – I wanted to stop travelling and spend more time with my family. So, I decided to set up my own business, an online company selling electronic products. Now, I can’t have my office closer to home: I manage my company from the garage! Thanks to Amazon, I can reach customers from all over the world from my small town close to Barcelona. Since I started selling on Amazon, my sales have doubled, especially the orders coming from international customers”.
Franco Polli, Polli’s Luggage, Italy said: “My family have sold traditional suitcases and bags in Alassio, Liguria for decades. When the economic crisis hit, the family business suffered. In 2013, I made the decision to launch on Amazon.it. A new school year was about to begin, and our brightly coloured rucksacks just flew off the shelves. That luggage has since become very popular abroad, and now I sell on all of Amazon’s European Marketplaces. The success I encountered encouraged me to use Fulfillment by Amazon which lessened my workload, especially with regard to returns and post-sales communication. I’m proud to have maintained the family business at a time when closure was a real possibility, and to have transformed it into something that is truly my own.”
Read about European Sellers who are Building Successful Businesses on Amazon Marketplace. Businesses interested in selling on Amazon, FBA and Amazon Payments can visit http://services.amazon.com.
About Amazon
Amazon.com opened on the World Wide Web in July 1995. The company is guided by four principles: customer obsession rather than competitor focus, passion for invention, commitment to operational excellence, and long-term thinking. Customer reviews, 1-Click shopping, personalized recommendations, Prime, Fulfillment by Amazon, AWS, Kindle Direct Publishing, Kindle, Fire phone, Fire tablets, and Fire TV are some of the products and services pioneered by Amazon.
# # #