Retail giant is looking for site in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne to become its first fulfilment centre in the country

This article is more than 3 years old

This article is more than 3 years old

The retail giant Amazon is expanding its operations in Australia, announcing plans to build the first of several large warehouses on the east coast to allow for faster local delivery.

The company announced the long-anticipated move on Thursday, and according to Business Insider reported is looking for warehouse space in Brisbane, Sydney or Melbourne to become its first 93,000 sq m Australian “fulfilment centre”.

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“Amazon Web Services launched an Australian region in 2012, we launched a Kindle store on amazon.com.au in 2013 and we now have almost 1,000 employees in the country,” the company said. “The next step is to bring a retail offering to Australia, and we are making those plans now.”

The proposed new warehouse will create several hundred new jobs.

“We are excited to bring thousands of new jobs to Australia, millions of dollars in additional investment, and to empower small Australian businesses through Amazon Marketplace,” Amazon said.

“We are optimistic that by focusing on the things we believe customers value most — low prices, vast selection and fast delivery — over time we’ll earn the business of Australian customers.”

It’s expected that services that led to Amazon dominating the retail market in the US, UK and much of western Europe, such as one-hour delivery, will be introduced in Australia soon.

Analysts at Morgan Stanley have dubbed Amazon the “country killer”, warning its retail clients: “While Amazon might take time to build up momentum in this country, it hangs like the sword of Damocles over corporate Australia.”

The warning, published in the Australian, came before Thursday’s announcement.

Amazon now accounts for $1bn of Australia’s $300bn annual retail sales, according to Morgan Stanley.

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Its launch, with an initial focus on electronics, is expected to eat into the profits of JB Hi-Fi and Harvey Norman, whose annual revenues in the 2015-16 financial year were $3.9bn and $1.8bn respectively.

Amazon has already criticised a tax plan designed to help bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Harvey Norman, saying a plan to impose the good and services tax on online purchases was so poorly designed it would “create an inherent disincentive” for online retailers to comply.

“While compliant sellers and electronic distribution platforms will charge GST, non-compliant sellers and electronic distribution platforms will be able to ship parcels to Australia at prices that appear more attractive to the consumer, with low risk of detection,” it said in a submission to the parliamentary committee hearing on the proposed tax legislation, which will be held on Friday.

“This incentivises consumers to buy from less reputable overseas vendors, at increased risk.”