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Tag: Australia

  • Nokia, UTS to establish 5G skills accelerator in Australia

    Nokia, UTS to establish 5G skills accelerator in Australia

    Nokia has teamed up with Australia’s University of Technology Sydney (UTS) to launch a new training facility aimed at broadening the skills base of Australia’s communications industry in 5G and other advanced communications technologies.

    The new Nokia 5G Skills Accelerator will provide UTS students, staff, industry personnel and Nokia customers, business partners and employees with access to cutting edge 5G technologies and training practices.

    It will focus on technology domains that will underpin the delivery of fixed and mobile high speed communications. These areas will include radio access, IP routing, optical and core networks, fixed broadband access, security and IoT platforms.

    More than 1,000 students and industry personnel are expected to attend the Nokia 5G Skills Accelerator at UTS next year, Nokia said.

    “Australia will be among the world leaders in 5G adoption and can be a pacesetter in the development of new mission-critical services in areas like industrial IoT,” Nokia head of Oceania Zoltan Losteiner said.

    “We need to accelerate the development of the right skills and knowledge to ensure Australia can reap the full benefits, and Nokia is proud to partner with UTS in this new national training facility.”

    Nokia is also a member of the UTS Rapido program, a collaboration of more than 200 researchers in areas such as data analytics, cyber security, 5G and IoT. Nokia is also a key member of Nokia’s Australian graduate program.

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  • Telstra previews “cell on wings” for emergency coverage

    Telstra previews “cell on wings” for emergency coverage

    Telstra has previewed new drone swarm and mobile “cell on wings” technology designed to provide mobile connectivity and search and rescue functionality in natural disasters and other emergency situations.

    The company has developed a mobile small cell mounted on a drone to temporarily boost mobile network coverage in a local area.

    As well as providing critical communications capabilities, the mounted small cell can ensure Telstra’s mobile network is capable of supporting the use of drones in emergency situations.

    The new drone swarm is meanwhile a group of drones flying in formation and controlled by a single pilot, designed to use computer vision to map an area affected by fires or floods.

    It uses computer vision capability to help identify specific objects, such as people in need of rescuing, and assess the overall scale of damage over a large area.

    “In the future, 5G will allow operators using this type of technology to run missions end-to-end with an extensive data uplink capability,” Telstra CTO Håkan Eriksson said in a blog post.

    “This would mean being able to stream large sets of live data (such as high resolution video) back to operators in real time, and back to the server for even more intelligent decision making.”

    Telstra has already been using drones to inspect the damage to its network in the wake of natural disasters and assist with the repair process.

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  • Singtel launches VIA cross-border mobile payment alliance

    Singtel launches VIA cross-border mobile payment alliance

    Singtel and Thai mobile affiliate AIS have jointly launched a cross-border mobile payment alliance known as VIA, introducing Singapore-Thailand cross border mobile payments in collaboration with Thailand’s Kasikornbank.

    Through the collaboration, Singtel and AIS will offer QR code based mobile payments through their respective mobile wallets – Singtel Dash, as well as AIS Global Pay and Rabbit Line Play.

    The service can be used at all merchants displaying the new VIA brand as well as the more than 1.6 million Kasikornbank merchants displaying the Thai QR Code.

    Singtel said the VIA Alliance in the first cross-border initiative to connect both telco and non-telco mobile wallets.

    The alliance will be progressively expanded to include more of Singtel’s regional associates, including Airtel in India, Globe Telecom and the Philippines and Telkomsel in Indonesia, as well as more non-telco partners such as China’s Ping An Insurance Group.

    “This is a game changer for the Singtel Group and the region. The VIA alliance is aimed at unifying Asia’s fragmented payments scene by connecting different mobile wallet systems across the region. As more people travel around the region, we want them to be able to enjoy the ease and familiarity of using their local mobile wallets abroad,” Singtel International CEO Arthur Lang said.

    “VIA will enhance the payment experience for millions of consumers including our Group’s customer base of more than 700 million. We see a tremendous opportunity to drive the adoption of mobile payments which supports ASEAN’s push towards financial inclusion and vision of a single digital market.”

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  • Japan’s TOKAI taps into Telstra’s global network

    Japan’s TOKAI taps into Telstra’s global network

    Japanese fixed line operator TOKAI Communications has contracted Australia-based Telstra to provide connectivity to help pursue an international expansion.

    TOKAI Communications has arranged to use the Telstra Programmable Network (TPN) to access Telstra’s networks.

    The Japanese operator will also to tap into Telstra’s subsea cable infrastructure spanning 230 countries and territories, as well as its Ethernet Private Line services, to directly connect TOKAI’s business locations on point-to-point subsea cables linking Singapore and Tokyo.

    According to the companies, the partnership will give TOKAI Communications the capability to compete in new markets and to connect customers to new overseas opportunities.

    “Telstra developed TPN to empower enterprises to meet the challenges of the future, embrace digital transformation and to quickly respond to changing market and customer demands,” Telstra head of international Oliver Camplin-Warner said.

    “With TPN, employees at TOKAI Communications will operate on a single, integrated and intelligent platform that provides flexible and dynamic access to Telstra’s high bandwidth, low latency and secure networks that allow the enterprise adapt faster to changing demands.”

  • Innisfree second store in Australia opens soon

    Innisfree second store in Australia opens soon

    Korean beauty brand Innisfree will open its second store in Australia at Westfield Doncaster shopping centre in Victoria on October 5.

    The store will feature over 600 products across skincare, make up, body care, hair care and home fragrances, which are formulated with an average of 80 per cent naturally-derived, responsibly-sourced ingredients.

    The company said it will invite customers to discover some of its most-loved products, creating a customised shopping experience.

    “Customers will be invited to discover some of Innisfree’s most-loved products around the world, including the Green Tea Seed Serum, Jeju Orchid Enriched Cream, Super Volcanic Clay Mousse Mask and My Real Squeeze Masks,” the company said in a statement.

    Innisfree opened its first store in Australia in Melbourne Central shopping centre in June. The Doncaster store demonstrates the company’s commitment to the Australian market, according to Innisfree general manager Brian Jeong.

    “We have many exciting developments planned for our Australian consumers and opening the second Innisfree store in Westfield Doncaster shows our commitment to this market,” Jeong said.

    Innisfree is offering exclusive gifts and eco-friendly tote bags to the first 800 people who visit the Doncaster store and spend more than $50.

    Customers who sign up to the beauty brand’s loyalty program will receive free samples with their purchase, as well as loyalty points.

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  • Fendi opens first Australian flagship

    Fendi opens first Australian flagship

    Fendi opened its first Australian flagship store in Melbourne, launching its retail presence in the nation outside a shopping mall or department setting.

    Located on the prestigious Collins Street, the luxury label’s new Melbourne store takes up residence inside the historical Athenaeum club and has been designed in a contemporary and heritage aesthetic.

    Plush pastel pink carpet, light coloured walls, metallic fixtures and mint velvet chairs are just some of the interior design style details.

    The Melbourne store will offer women’s and men’s ready-to-wear collections, as well as accessories and leather goods; all designed by Fendi’s creative directors, Karl Lagerfeld and Silvia Venturini Fendi.

    For the women, Fendi Melbourne will have an area for their bag and accessories collections, displayed on metal shelves with white and gold on the back wall.

    In the store’s centre will lie the women’s ready-to-wear and shoes items, while the men’s area is nearby, featuring mocha walls, cork shelving and straw panels.

    Fur tablets from the Italian brand archives and sketches by Karl Lagerfeld are also framed on the wall throughout the store.

    Marking the Australian flagship launch, Fendi threw a party opening in store with Australian male supermodel Jordan Barrett and influencer Elsa Pataky attending the inauguration.

    Fendi first opened two freestanding Australian stores in Sydney and Melbourne in 2016, opening in the heart of Sydney’s Westfield in the city centre, and in Melbourne’s luxury shopping hub, Chadstone.

    Founded in Rome on Via del Plebiscito, Fendi was bowed by Edoardo and Adele Fendi in 1925.

    Since 2001, the Italian brand has been a part of France’s LVMH Group, which controls more than 70 brands including Louis Vuitton, Dior and Hennessy cognac.

  • Guess Asia enjoys sales, profit surge

    Guess Asia enjoys sales, profit surge

    Guess has returned to profit in the first half of this year, with high rate of growth in Asia-Pacific a key factor.

    Sales by Guess in Asia rose by 32.3 per cent during the first half of this year, expressed in US dollars, and by 27.1 per cent in constant currency, with same-store sales up by 20 per cent.

    That was more than double the sales growth of the company overall.

    For the full year, Guess is predicting comp sales in Asia to be up by the low teens in percentage terms, with profit up in the low- to mid-20 per cent region.

    The company is performing across all markets, even in its core US home market where it has been struggling in recent times.

    Globally, for the six months to August 4, Guess achieved net sales of US$1.17 billion, up 14.1 per cent. Net earnings were $11.6 million, compared to an adjusted net loss of $3.3 million for the same period last year.

    “Overall, I am very pleased by the momentum we are experiencing across the globe,” said CEO Victor Herrero in the company’s earnings statement.

    “We are now planning for positive comps in all regions, including the Americas. Looking forward, I feel confident that the ‘turnaround’ has only just begun, as we are well positioned to exit this fiscal year with every business segment profitable and the company firmly on the path to our 7.5 per cent operating margin goal by continuing to execute on our strategic initiatives,” he said.

    Operating margin for the Guess in Asia rose by 120 basis points over the first half to 3.4 per cent, from 2.2 per cent a year ago. The company said the improvement was driven by reduced occupancy costs, partially offset by higher expenses resulting from retail expansion in Australia.

    The company said a lower number of markdowns in the US also helped reverse its loss.

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  • Lotte Duty Free takes over Australia and NZ stores ownership

    Lotte Duty Free takes over Australia and NZ stores ownership

    Lotte Duty Free has bought a change of outlets in Australia and New Zealand from local operator JR Duty Free.

    The four Australian stories are in airports in Brisbane, Darwin and Canberra and in downtown Melbourne, while the New Zealand store is at Wellington airport.

    JR Duty Free reportedly operates seven stores in Oceania and five shops in Israel. Its revenue last year was US$617 million.

    Financial details of the deal were not revealed.

    Lotte Duty Free believes growing numbers of Chinese tourists into Oceania offer an opportunity to grow its business in the two markets.

    The South Korean company has been steadily enlarging its global footprint since 2012, expanding into Vietnam, Japan, Thailand, Indonesia and the US.

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  • Australia Expects Free-Trade Deals With Indonesia, Hong Kong This Year

    Australia Expects Free-Trade Deals With Indonesia, Hong Kong This Year

    The Australian government expects to seal free-trade agreements with Indonesia and Hong Kong by the end of this year, its trade minister said on Friday.

    Concluding the two agreements would wrap years of talks, which in the case of Indonesia have dragged on since 2010, stalling along the way as diplomatic tensions between the two sides flared.

    “I think by the end of this year we’ll conclude successfully an FTA with Indonesia, an FTA with Hong Kong,” Trade Minister Steven Ciobo said at a business lunch in Sydney, when asked about the outlook for the next 12 months.

    He gave no further details on timing, though a deal with Indonesia, Southeast Asia’s largest economy but only Australia’s 13th-largest trading partner, could come as soon as next month when Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull is scheduled to visit.

    Ciobo, who has already sealed Australian trade deals with Peru and with the 11-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership this year, also said United States President Donald Trump’s protectionist rhetoric had made his counterparts elsewhere more willing negotiators.

    Since Trump’s election, there has been a “desire from a number of countries to double down” on trade pacts, Ciobo said, helping him to seal deals.

    He added that he was “hopeful” of also signing Australian agreements this year with the Pacific Alliance, a Latin American trade bloc and with the China-led Regional Comprehensive Economic Partnership.

    A deal with Hong Kong, Australia’s 12th-largest trading partner, has been under negotiation since last year.

    Two-way trade between the pair is worth roughly A$16.3 billion ($12 billion), according to Australian figures, nearly the same as the country’s two-way trade with Indonesia.

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  • Baia Baia launches in Australia

    Baia Baia launches in Australia

    International fashion and accessories brand Baia Baia, known for its playful and spirited approach to custom creation, made its Australian debut with the opening of its first Australian flagship store in Sydney’s Queen Victoria Building late July.

    Baia Baia is a bespoke charm concept, where fashion and creativity collide, designed to offer infinite possibilities that represent happiness, uniqueness, free spirit and style.

    The brand was founded in France by Steve and Chiara Rosenblum. Baia Baia’s philosophy is based on an ethos of togetherness, fun, and casual chic, embracing the idea of a Baia Baia Tribe, where personality shines with confidence through customised DIY creations of thongs, jellies, furries, bags, stationery and other fashion accessories.

    At the helm as collection director is Parisian-born Chiara, a renowned contemporary art collector, editor-at-large for French magazine Be Contemporary and mother to three young girls.

    Chiara, who with her husband also co-founded a 1500sqm art museum designed by esteemed architect Joseph Dirand, draws on her global aesthetic, design and artistic influences to craft Baia Baia’s ranges, each heroing the brand’s DNA of fun and accessible fashion for all ages, focusing on personalisation and entertainment.

    Presenting hundreds of charms categorized into 12 distinct fashion tribes, the in-store and online Baia Baia experience allows customers to embark on an expressive journey, offering a template of creativity to craft fashion accessories that is uniquely your own. The charms, like a tattoo, tell personal and unique stories.

    At the avant-garde of a revolution of empowerment, Baia Baia provides the environment and tools to achieve fashionable self-creation, ensuring no two persons wear the same, where fashion meets and mingles with one’s own personal sense of style, fun and memories.

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  • Bondi Venus champions affordable fashion swimwear for the style-savvy girl

    Bondi Venus champions affordable fashion swimwear for the style-savvy girl

    A vibrant, young swimwear brand launching new bikinis for the summer of 2018 ; Bondi Venus champions affordable fashion swimwear and beach clothing for the style-savvy girl about town who wants to make an impact poolside.

    The company behind the brand have almost 3 years of experience in designing, producing and distributing fine, fashion-led garments and accessories and supply some of Asia’s biggest high street retailers.

    Detail is at the forefront of Bondi Venus. Meticulous technique and an attention to extraordinary features is evident in the debut collection. Sophisticated beadwork and embellishment adorns classic bikini styles; while jewel-encrusted brooches and pretty charms facet South Beach’s own designs and prints, lending to the individual character of the range.

    The first collection from this fresh and exciting swimwear brand focusses on three key trends; ‘Bikinis’, ‘Monokinis’ and ‘Trikinis’.

    These three fashion-forward sets combine seamlessly to create a coherent collection of stunning swimwear and beach clothing. Pieces are sold as individual separates and are designed to allow for mixing and matching across the range.

    The Bondi Venus girl is typically aged 18-35, enjoys socialising with friends and looks for a bikini that not only looks great by the pool, but also steps up to the mark after sunset for a moonlit beach party.

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  • JD Sports continues Australia expansion

    JD Sports continues Australia expansion

    The JD Sports Perth store in Westfield Carousel will open on 30 August and the new store in Brisbane’s city centre will open on 20 September 2018.

    In April 2017, JD Sports was brought to Australia by local retail agent Hilton Seskin, whose Next Athleisure firm also brought out from the UK Topshop and Topman, which filed for administration only a few years after, before being rescued by parent company, Arcadia Group, effectively saving it from exiting the market.

    However, JD Sports has exploded in Australia in the last twelve months and expanded rapidly on the continent, opening nine stores on the east coast, namely in bigger cities such as Sydney and Melbourne.

    The opening in Perth will see the retailer enter the west coast of Australia for the first time, already a burgeoning online market for the brand, according to Seskin, since JD Sports launched its e-commerce platform in Australia upon entry.

    “The move into Perth is highly anticipated as Western Australia has always interacted with the brand, even before we launched a physical store — it was actually the number one traffic location for online users prior to launch,” said local retail distributor, Hilton Seskin, in a statement.

    Compared to fast-fashion and apparel, the sportswear retail market is relatively unsaturated in Australia, meaning big name international chains are starting to stake their claim via physical and online store debuts.

    However, competition is heating up for JD Sports. France’s Decathlon has since launched in Australia in December 2017, prompting local retailer Super Retail Group to rebranded its sporting brands Rebel Sport and Amart stores to simply Rebel last year.

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  • SsangYong expands to Australia

    SsangYong expands to Australia

    SsangYong Motor will establish its first overseas sales unit in Australia in November to take advantage of rising demand for SUVs there, the carmaker said Monday.

    The establishment of its first overseas sales unit will serve as a stepping stone for SsangYong Motor to further fortify its global sales, the carmaker said.

    SsangYong Motor, the Korean unit of Indian auto giant Mahindra & Mahindra, sold its cars in other countries before through partnerships with local dealerships. It has never operated its own sales unit outside of Korea before.

    “The Australian sales unit will be SsangYong Motor’s first overseas sales unit to be directly managed by the carmaker,” said CEO Choi Johng-sik in a written statement released on Monday. “It will help us to be more flexible in handling the local market, such as the marketing strategy.”

    SsangYong Motor currently exports cars to Europe, South America and the Middle East.

    Chile was the biggest export market for SsangYong Motor last year.

    When the Australian unit opens in November, SsangYong Motor is expected to launch a full range of models, including the Tivoli, G4 Rexton and Rexton Sports. SsangYong Motor said it hopes to eventually run 60 directly managed dealerships in Australia.

    SsangYong Motor stopped selling its cars in Australia in 2016. It had previously been selling vehicles to local dealerships.

    Its decision to resume sales is due to the sharp growth in Australian SUV sales. According to the carmaker, sales of SUVs accounted for 18 percent of vehicle sales in Australia in 2006, but they expanded to 39 percent last year. Sales of pick-up trucks, which SsangYong Motor also sells, rose by 70,000 vehicles during the same period.

    The unique Australian automobile market, which is completely reliant on imported vehicles, also factored into SsangYong’s decision to launch an overseas sales subsidiary.

    “While countries that have a homegrown brand tend to be hard to penetrate, Australia doesn’t have their own marque, which is why we thought the brand would have a better chance,” a SsangYong Motor official said.

    After launching its existing models, SsangYong Motor said it will continue to launch new models in Australia to secure its position in the market.

  • Amazon Prime Day fizzles yet retailer expects membership growth

    Amazon Prime Day fizzles yet retailer expects membership growth

    Amazon is hoping for record Prime Day sales and sign-ups to Prime memberships in Australia, even after its website crashed at the beginning of the event.

    The online retailer experienced ‘technical glitches’, as well as some disappointed Australian consumers, during the flash sale, sparking the twitter hashtag, #PrimeDayFail.

    Amazon extended Prime Day to 36 hours from 30 hours last year and added four countries, including Australia, in its drive to increase Amazon Prime membership.

    Despite the glitches, Amazon claimed the first 10 hours Prime Day grew even faster, year-over-year, than the first 10 hours last year, exceeding US$1 billion in sales globally. Best-selling items included the Fire TV Stick with Alexa Voice Remote, Instant Pot 6 Qt 7-in-1 Multi Use and Echo Dot.

    According to various reports, spending jumped 89 per cent in the first 12 hours of the event compared with the same period last year.

    Amazon’s Black Friday equivalent had been expected to achieve US$3.4 billion of spending, up more than 40 per cent from last year. And despite the tech issues, Amazon’s stock gained 1.2 per cent to $1843.93 as of close of trade on July 17.

    The impact on Australian retailers has yet to be reported. However, Amazon retail’s arrival in Australia late last year proved underwhelming, with many consumers reporting the online retailer as worse than expected according to fresh research undertaken by Starcom. Local consumers were also disappointed when their US accounts were blocked as of 1 July, forcing them to use the Australian version.

    Since then, Starcom said Amazon.com.au has made up ground, with its improved pricing, product offerings and two-day distribution.

    “It is our belief Amazon’s free and fast delivery proposition is core and essential for long term Prime membership, but it is the little bursts of excitement, whether from access to amazing deals or favourite photos and music, that inspire people to take action and actually sign up,” Starcom director audience and measurement solutions, Nicole Conroy, said.

    “Based on our initial analysis and knowing that in the US more new customers joined Prime on Prime Day 2017 than on any single day in Amazon history12, we believe Amazon Prime Day will be a critical factor in boosting membership numbers in Australia.”

    Mindshare’s research into ‘The Amazon effect’ in June found overall online shopping traffic has grown 9.1 per cent off the back of Amazon’s launch, with local consumers turning away from overseas ecommerce sites in favour of locally based options.

    Amazon also grew traffic by 24 per cent post-launch, or between February-April 2018 and February-April 2017, attracting an additional 1.3 million visitors per month. This compared to an 11 per cent decline in Web traffic the previous year.

    However, local retailers hurt by Amazon’s arrival are commonly operating in categories of traditional strength for the US giant, such as gaming, books and consumer electronics. In Australia, these brands included EB Games, Booktopia, Harvey Norman, Supercheap Auto, Cotton On Group, eBay and Priceline, which all experienced a dip in traffic year-on-year.

    Globant VP of technology, Nicolás Ávila, saw Amazon Prime Day as a symbol of how Amazon transformed a great customer experience into a loyalty program.

    “Instead of building a loyalty program that is based on points, Amazon decided to charge a premium for clients willing to pay for a premium offering,” he commented. “Companies like Amazon, Apple and Disney have shown that building an emotional connection with customers comes from not focusing on the conversion, but instead improving the overall customer journey and removing friction points through new products and technology.”

    Avionos president, Scott Webb, said Amazon has continued to evolve its positioning, adapting to changing consumer expectations and retail industry trends.

    “What started as basically a flash sale to drive site traffic has now grown into a multi-channel blitz of Amazon’s private-label brands and in-store promotions, particularly with Whole Foods in the mix,” he said. “Prime Day has now infiltrated the brick-and-mortar market and even looks a bit like sales put on by traditional retailers, like Nordstrom’s Anniversary Sale or Macy’s Independence Day Sale – just more adapted to today’s online shoppers.

    “This has been a growing change in Amazon’s business model because today, it’s not enough for retailers to compete only online. We’re seeing Amazon continue to recognize this changing dynamic as it further blurs the line between online and offline commerce offerings. I think this is one of the first of many years that we’ll see Amazon expanding its Prime Day offerings into the physical space.”

    Episerver director of product strategy, personalisation, campaign and analytics, Jeff Cheal, said Amazon has set the standard customers have come to expect from a seamless and convenient shopping experience.

    “While Amazon has done well to cultivate strong brand loyalty, our experience and research shows that customers are quick to jump ship if an online shopping experience doesn’t live up to these new standards, even with sites they are previously familiar with,” he said.

    “If site performance stands in the way of a consumer’s shopping experience, especially during a banner sales event, users won’t quickly forget this. If Prime members can’t shop for the deals they were promised on Prime Day – Amazon’s highly-publicized bell ringing event – it means Amazon has fumbled in delivering on the very premise that has made it into the retail juggernaut it is today.”

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  • Amazon servers crash in Prime Day event

    Amazon servers crash in Prime Day event

    Amazon’s annual shopping event, Prime Day, kicked off overnight, promising steep discounts on a wide range of items.

    But shoppers were left disappointed in the early hours of the sale, when the e-commerce giant’s website and app crashed, reportedly due to the high volume of traffic.

    “The good news is that after extensive marketing and hype, Amazon has clearly pushed demand for its Prime extravaganza to an all-time high – maybe even more than it anticipated,” said GlobalData Retail’s managing director, Neil Saunders.

    According to Downdetector.com, a website that monitors site outages, Amazon began experiencing problems shortly after the event kicked off. Downdetector’s outage map indicates that users around the world had trouble accessing the site, though most glitches appear to have occurred in the US.

    Saunders noted the irony of Amazon’s website crashing, since the company provides technology for other websites to handle large volumes of traffic.

    “The failure of Amazon’s systems and sites is rare: the online behemoth is one of the most advanced digital retailers and is usually able to cope with even extremely high levels of demand,” he said.

    “There is no doubt that this will erode sales and deter some customers from buying. The outage is especially problematic as many of Amazon’s Prime deals are promoted for a set window of time – something that could cause a great deal of frustration for potential customers.”

    US$3.4 billion on the line

    According to Coresight Research, Amazon was expected to bring in US$3.4 billion from Prime Day, up more than 40 percent from last year.

    While it is too soon to say what impact the outage will have on the company’s revenue, Saunders believes Prime Day is likely to be a financial success even with the glitch.

    In a perverse way, the site crash itself is an indicator of the event’s popularity. But with local Prime Day deals available to Australian shoppers for the first time this year, some wonder whether the event holds the same appeal in Australia as Amazon’s home market of the US.

    A review of 435 Prime Day deals on Amazon.com.au by Market Track Global found that the average discount on items is 35.4 per cent.

    Market Track Global noted that the deepest discounts so far are for the Braun TributeCollection Bench Blender at 82 per cent off and the NUK Thermo Express Bottle Opener at 80 per cent off, but many of Amazon’s own products are also steeply discounted:

    “In the early going, you’re seeing a lot of deals for Amazon-branded and Alexa-connected products, and the discounts are compelling. We looked at about 15 early deals for Amazon and AmazonBasics brands and shoppers are saving over 40 per cent off on average for these products.”

    However, the most significant measure of Prime Day’s success in Australia may not be the number of transactions made on the site over the course of 36 hours, but rather the number of people who sign up for Prime during the event.

    Research firm Starcom noted that the biggest jumps in Prime membership have traditionally occurred during key shopping events like Black Friday, Christmas and Prime Day.

    “Based on our initial analysis and knowing that in the US more new customers joined Prime on Prime Day 2017 than on any single day in Amazon history, we believe Amazon Prime Day, set to take place on July 16, will be a critical factor in boosting membership numbers in Australia,” Starcom’s director of audience & measurement solutions, Nicole Conroy, said.

    According to Starcom’s research, 52 per cent of visitors to Amazon’s Australia site said they are likely to join Prime, which offers members free shipping and returns, access to exclusive deals and digital content, among other benefits, for an annual fee of $59.

    Starcom also found that those who sign up for Prime tend to spend 4.6 times more, buy three times more frequently and feel more connected to Amazon than non-prime members.

    Given the slow initial uptake of Amazon in Australia, the e-commerce giant has a strong incentive to boost Prime membership and, subsequently, sales Down Under.

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