Two years after announcing plans, Amazon’s highly awaited e-commerce entry into Africa has finally come to pass. On Tuesday, the tech giant launched its marketplace in South Africa.

South Africa is the e-commerce giant’s first marketplace on the continent, and it will be going head-to-head in the country with local players like Takealot (majority-owned by media giant Naspers), as well as Makro and Bob Group’s bidorbuy to tap what is estimated to be e-commerce revenue worth $3 billion annually.

But notably, Amazon is launching in South Africa without its famous Prime membership program. That means no media services, no Prime-only service tiers like free shipping for a large trove of items, and no sticky tool to get people returning to its site again and again over other buying options (and paying Amazon for the privilege).

We have contacted Amazon to ask about when, or if, it is likely to add Prime in the region and we will update this post as we learn more.

The service e-commerce giant said that initially it plans to sell international brands and local products spanning some 20 product categories. Amazon will offer same-day and next-day delivery as well as 3,000 pickup points, and without the Prime perk of free delivery on a wide range of items, to bring in customers, Amazon is offering free delivery for anyone’s first order as well as subsequent orders exceeding R500 ($27).

It’s unclear how much the market in the country currently wants or needs another player — and one that is parachuting in from the U.S., at that. Local e-commerce entrepreneurs, however, are seeing it as a strong signal about the overall strength of the country’s e-commerce market, which wobbled globally after peak usage during the height of the Covid-19 pandemic.

“Competition is above all good news, as it validates the opportunity of African e-commerce and helps to grow the market. South Africa is however a very specific market, different from most African countries, with mature retail networks, stable supply and very competitive e-commerce space,” Francis Dufay, Jumia CEO, said to TechCrunch about Amazon’s arrival.

Nevertheless, the debut has been a long time coming: Amazon had first said it would launch on the continent two years ago, in two countries, Nigeria and South Africa. That in itself appeared to be building on Amazon putting South Africa and the wider continent of Africa into sharper focus overall: in 2020, it had announced its first AWS region for the continent, also out of South Africa.

But in the wake of that announcement, Amazon pushed back its launch dates for both. South Africa was originally supposed to debut in April 2023. That was then postponed to October 2023, but that month, it only started to onboard independent sellers in the country, and it was still making hires in merchant development, software development, and operations.

Meanwhile, its Nigerian launch, slated for February 2023, has also been put on hold, and the company has yet to give an update on when that might open for business.

The opportunity, however, is clear. Africa as a continent is still very much in the early stages when it comes to digital commerce, and while that might mean significantly more challenges in ironing out supply chains and logistics, and changing consumer habits by getting more consumers converted to selecting and paying for goods online, it represents significantly more growth potential than other, more mature markets for the company.

“We are excited to launch Amazon.co.za, along with thousands of independent sellers in South Africa. We provide customers with great value, broad selection—including international and local products—and a convenient delivery experience,” said Robert Koen, managing director of Sub-Saharan Africa, Amazon, in a statement. “Building a strong relationship with South African brands and businesses—small or large—is incredibly important to us. We want Amazon.co.za to be the place where they can reach millions of customers.”

Amazon’s entry into the South African market introduces competition into an industry largely dominated by Naspers-owned Takealot, which commands nearly half of all online sales in the southern African country. Walmart-owned Massmart is also gearing up for its own e-commerce push. The timing of Amazon’s launch also coincides with a surge in online shopping in South Africa following the pandemic, which has spurred increased investments from retailers in the e-commerce sector.

After manufacturing their criminal glitch to rob the nation during election, do you think a criminal group wont be afraid of having amazon in the country.

South Africans react...

These are the types of investments we want in Nigeria but the APC government has made the economy too volatile for investors to come in.

Let's look at the Nigerian e-commerce landscape for a moment. Konga is dead and buried, Jumia has never declared a profit since inception and these are the major players.

Naira is rising and falling like Lazarus, inflation has eaten deep into the economy like leprosy, continous taxation means the common man has little to no disposable income to purchase goods or services.

Meanwhile, recent government policies include Scam Subsidy Removal, Corrupt Coastal Highway, and the newly invented Yahoo Cybersecurity Levy.

Microsoft is about to leave Nigeria, after Bolt....

Tinubu is not in charge on Nigeria economy

Possible

heniford2:
Tinubu is not in charge on Nigeria economy

Who's in charge? Portable?

Sh*t!

Like this comment if u want to come back as a Nigerian in next world,
Share if you don't

strangest:
Microsoft is about to leave Nigeria, after Bolt....

Is bolt leaving?


Just did a fact check, I saw it's arm bolt food is what they want to discontinue.

Lest ask how many schools Peter obi built and why he built substandard boreholes meanwhile international companies are shunning Nigeria, those ones already established here are packing out due to tilinbu poor economic decisions and bad luck

Everyone is going na only you remain 😂

idahme:


Is bolt leaving?


Just did a fact check, I saw it's arm bolt food is what they want to discontinue.

Also fact check
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc

Sanofi


Also fact check fuel price and cost of running business in Nigeria.... Mr fact checker...

strangest:



Also fact check
GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Nigeria Plc

Sanofi


Also fact check fuel price and cost of running business in Nigeria.... Mr fact checker...

You are not a serious person, I see you prefer people who go with what they feel rather than what the fact is. Enjoy your time playing with your father.

Zonefree:

Who's in charge? Portable?

his son and wife and few individuals