Amazon opens to the Italian market

A few days ago Amazon launched their Italian website, making lots of Italian consumers (like me) happier.

The greatest obstacles for the e-commerce giant in taking this step has always been, according to them, the unreliability of the Italian postal service and the marginal numbers generated by the Italian e-commerce market. Something must have changed, and it has brought benefits to both Amazon and Italian consumers.

Data from Politecnico di Milano e-commerce observatory show that the Italian e-commerce market has grown by 14% in 2010 and forecasts are more than promising. Amazon has understood its potential and its presence will inevitably boost such numbers.

Amazon’s distinguishably aggressive pricing will soon shake the Italian market, where goods such as books are still quite pricey and rarely “on offer”. This is a wake-up call for Italian competitors, which will hopefully generate healthy competition and ground for further development (e.g. a higher uptake of e-books).

Due to Amazon’s established and knowingly reliable system (also in Italy), Italian consumers will hopefully perceive shopping online for books, as well as more high-value products, successfully overcoming their concern over secure payment and delivery (the main issues currently stopping many from doing it). I believe a certain “novice effect” will also facilitate the adoption and use of the website.

Amazon has waited a decade before entering this market. This is an interesting controlled experiment that will reveal whether Amazon’s success is due to being first to market, or the best in the market. It will also be interesting to see what changes Amazon implement on their website to align it to Italian users’ needs and culture as they begin appropriating it.

A big step for both Amazon and the Italian e-commerce… And a quicker way for me to get Christmas presents this year!

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