But its accounts show that Amazon captured only a tiny portion of the $50 billion Australians spent in the lead-up to Christmas. Amazon had $6.3 million in "first-party" sales - which are products stocked, sold and shipped to customers by Amazon - for the period of December 5 to December 29, the accounts show. Commission from "third-party" sales - which are products sold by other businesses on Amazon's marketplace - came in at just over $1 million. Commission, or "referral fees", on third-party sales are between 8 per cent and 12 per cent depending on the product, suggesting total third-party sales of about $10 million for the month. The inside of Amazon's first Australian warehouse, in Melbourne's southeast.

Together, that suggests $16 million in total sales for the month. In comparison, the department store Myer reported average sales revenue of almost $340 million every month across October, November and December last year. Taking a bigger bite out of the online market While Amazon’s share of the total retail market was tiny, it compares more favourably within just the online retail market. Loading Replay Replay video Play video Play video

JB Hi-FI, which has been identified as one of the retailers most susceptible to disruption by Amazon, had average online sales of almost $20 million a month in the second half of 2017, making up 4.8 per cent of its total sales. Online-only retailer Kogan.com had average sales of $36 million a month over the same period. Australians are spending $26.5 billion a year shopping online, which is equivalent to about 8.4 per cent of total spending at bricks and mortar retailers, according to research by NAB. That market is growing by about 18 per cent a year, NAB says. Loading Meanwhile, the country’s shopkeepers received some unexpected good news on Friday, with the Australia Bureau of Statistics revealing that retail sales jumped 0.4 per cent month on month in June, and 1.2 per cent quarter on quarter, ahead of the market’s expectations of a 0.2 per cent and 0.8 rise respectively. “The boost from rising employment appears to be countering any drag on real spending from weak wage growth, rising petrol prices and falling house prices,” said Capital Economics chief Paul Dales. “But we doubt that will continue”.

Blocking Aussies from US site It is likely Amazon.com.au's sales have grown significantly since December, not least because the company has now blocked deliveries to Australia from its US and other international websites, forcing local customers to use its local website. Amazon said it was forced to take this step to ensure it complied with new rules that require it to collect and remit GST on all orders made with offshore sellers on its marketplace. Ahead of launching its local website, Citi analysts estimated Australians were spending between $500 million and $700 million on Amazon's international sites. The company said its "Prime Day" subscriber sales event on July 16 and 17 led to the two biggest days of sales and highest days of traffic since its launch.

Consulting firm Bain & Company says that Amazon.com.au could become Australia’s sixth-largest retailer, with sales of between $8 billion and $10 billion, by 2022. That would place it behind Woolworths, Coles, Bunnings, Aldi and IGA, but ahead of Harvey Norman, Kmart, JB Hi-Fi, Big W, Target, Myer and David Jones. The accounts show another $10 million in revenue from “other related parties”. It is not clear what this represents. Amazon’s head office has poured $31.6 million into the Australian business, its newest overseas venture, the documents show. An Amazon spokeswoman declined to comment on the company's accounts.