Amazon.com, the U.S. e-commerce giant, inaugurated a walk-in center in South Africa on January 16th aimed at assisting independent sellers in attracting more customers and expanding their businesses, while also aiming to increase its market share.
According to Robert Koen, the Managing Director of Amazon Sub-Saharan Africa, the center will enhance the company's product range, thereby increasing potential revenue. Koen emphasized, "The biggest thing is product breadth for our customers. We just want to have loads of products that people can buy."
With over 60% of global sales in Amazon's stores originating from independent sellers—many of which are small and medium-sized businesses—the new center at Amazon's Cape Town headquarters offers local sellers various services, including immediate registration for selling on Amazon.co.za, training, product imaging and cataloguing support, and shipping and logistics assistance.
Having expanded to its first Sub-Saharan African country last year, Amazon experienced a successful holiday season performance. Koen remarked, "I think Q4 (fourth quarter) was actually very encouraging. We exceeded all the goals that we set for ourselves," noting that first-time shoppers were returning to the online store and providing positive feedback on the delivery speed.