By: Ilana Siyance
Amazon is preparing to roll out its new Hebrew e-commerce website targeting the Israeli market. It has begun its search for new vendors in Israel to aid its upcoming service in the country, in a mission to tap into the rapidly-growing Middle Eastern market. On Wednesday, the company posted a statement on its website noting that it has reached out to businesses in Israel inviting them to sell via their website, and for the first time to deliver directly to locals with its upcoming platform. Israeli companies are already selling products on Amazon, however, it is expensive for both Israeli vendors and consumers because till now the sellers were required to first ship their products to fulfillment centers in America and Europe. Now, Amazon is preparing its platform so that goods can be sold directly from inside the country without traveling back and forth. Amazon said that it hopes “to provide our customers in Israel with even more local products to choose from,” with faster delivery speeds.
As reported by the Wall Street Journal, Amazon is trying to roll out the Hebrew website for Israeli buyers before the Jewish holidays coming up in October, but yet another surprise national election this September may delay the launch.
In May, Jeff Bezos’ e-commerce giant already made its first endeavor in the region, entering the United Arab Emirates with a branded Arabic-language website. In May, Amazon also made its first approached towards the Israeli market, by sending out letters in Hebrew to potential sellers. Israel will be its second entry, which speaks well of the country, with such a small population (approximately 9 million). As evident, however, Israel has already proved it has a strong record of online shopping, and is expanding swiftly. Last year, Israel’s postal company reported that it shipped in 65 million packages from abroad. China’s Ali Express led Israel’s e-commerce market with 50% of orders, with eBay Inc. and Amazon following. Though malls are still an integral part of Israel, the Israeli e-commerce market is at roughly $4.8 billion in sales, with 70% of the sales stemming from outside of Israel.
One potential bump Amazon may face in its new Israeli platform is navigating the sensitive decisions about how to market goods that are made in the Israeli settlements and the West Bank. Some Palestinian supporters have already petitioned companies to ban Israel from profiting from sales in contested areas and are demanding that products made there be clearly labeled as made in the settlements rather than in Israel proper.
An Amazon spokesman declined to comment on the plans.
