Late last year it was revealed that Amazon was looking for a big warehouse facility that would form part of its fulfilment network in Israel. And, according to reports, the experiment has been successful because since that opened, bringing with it Amazon FBA in Israel, Israeli shoppers enjoy a much increased selection of products which estimates that inventory has increased by 1 million additional lines.
The introduction of FBA is credited with the significant jump in the number of products available and the biggest beneficiaries are third-party sellers. And international sellers shipping into Israel are a significant chunk of that.
Israel has a population of roughly 8.5 million and online shopping is growing swiftly, according to reports. Ecommerce grew by 25% last year and imports are growing strongly too. Israel Post says the number of consignments delivered to Israel from overseas has doubled in the past three years to 61 million items in 2017. Interestingly, Amazon is one of the top five popular shopping sites in Israel, together with Ali Express, Asos, eBay and Next.
Doubtless Israel represents an interesting, if relatively small, opportunity for European merchant exporters, but if you’re already plugged into the FBA network then it could be worth examining. Of particular interest must surely be that Amazon Israel isn’t swamped with inventory just yet and you may be able to steal a lead. It is estimated that there are roughly 6000 Israel-based Amazon merchants.
You can find out more about selling on Amazon FBA in Israel here.
This development accompanies other recent international expansions by Amazon. Most notably the launch of Amazon Australis last year was a huge leap forward and significant investments in Brazil with relation to fulfilment are also significant. But the ecommerce struggle for ecommerce in India is the key battleground with Wal-mart, Alibaba, eBay and Amazon opening significant resources to get their share of online shopping in the second most populous country in the world.