"I'm not suggesting the impact will be insignificant," Mr Cairns said on Thursday as Amazon added new products such as appliances, consumer electronics and homewares to its Australian site ahead of an official launch.

"But people are already using Amazon extensively," he said.

Woolworths chief executive Brad Banducci said Amazon was not entering Australia for the first time but onshoring rather than sending products from overseas.

"The timing is to drive sales as always," Mr Banducci said.

Their comments came as Amazon started final testing on its revamped site ahead of launching on Black Friday or over the weekend.

Amazon fans logged hopefully onto the amazon.com.au site on Thursday afternoon after Amazon told sellers it would start an internal testing phase with a small number of customers at 3pm AEDT.

Marketplace sellers said they had been advised to be ready for a soft launch on Thursday and a full launch on Friday to coincide with "Black Friday" post-Thanksgiving Day sales in the US.

The public site showed only books and e-readers, which Amazon has been selling in Australia for years, but links showed a wide range of products including electronics and accessories, mobile phones and cases, office and art supplies and giftware.


Citigroup analyst Bryan Raymond believes the official launch may be delayed until the weekend or "Cyber Monday" on November 27 because Amazon is still waiting to receive stock from major first party suppliers.

"I heard from a supplier yesterday they aren't going to be ready for Black Friday," Mr Raymond told the The Australian Financial Review.

"They're still very committed to Christmas – the last I heard was Monday but it could be some stage next week," he said.

Amazon wanted to wanted to make sure all categories were in place so it could launch its first party and third party or marketplace offers simultaneously, he said.

"They're trying to make sure it's all 100 per cent."

Mr Raymond agreed with Woolworths that Amazon would not ruin Christmas for Australian retailers, saying the impact would be "pretty minimal this year". Citi estimates Amazon will generate sales of $200 million in December, representing just 0.2 per cent of retail sales.

"The only real risk to overall sales is if Amazon comes out with some big sales – they have some big promotions planned – and if they force everyone else to match them that could impact sales and margins."

"I'd not be worried about the volumes because they physically can't do much volume but I'd be worried about the pricing."


However, Amazon may not have the lowest prices.

One retailer told the Financial Review his prices on Amazon Marketplace would need to be higher than prices on his own website and stores to cover Amazon's 15 per cent commission.

"In my industry margins are very tight and we can't absorb the commission Amazon charges," the retailer said.

Amazon told would-be sellers last week the monthly fee for selling on Marketplace would be $49.95 plus GST and the "referral fee" or commission would be between 6 per cent and 15 per cent, depending on the category.