Amazon helps European vendors sell cross-border

Amazon has announced the launch of its Pan-European Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) program. The American retail company gives European sellers on its Amazon Marketplace the opportunity to have them deliver the goods to customers in other European Union countries. This way, the American retail giant hopes to dominate online deliveries across the continent.

European sellers on Amazon Marketplace can now ship their goods to one of the 29 distribution centers Amazon has in Europe. Here Amazon will store the inventory for them, so when the sellers receive an order from a customer in another EU country, Amazon will pick, pack and ship the items to the buyer’s home. For customers the Pan-European FBA program should lead to faster shipping times and lower delivery costs.

Tens of thousands of SMEs sell to customers across the EU

According to Amazon, tens of thousands of small and medium-sized enterprises already sell to Amazon customers across the European Union. For example, sellers from the UK exported nearly 1.77 billion euros in 2015, and over 50 percent of EU sellers sell on more than one Amazon Marketplace in the EU during the first quarter of this year.

Competing with Royal Mail and TNT Express

As Bloomberg puts it, the expansion of Amazon’s shipping and logistics operation in Europe, may increase competition with local courier services such as Royal Mail and TNT Express. “The web retailer is reported to be seeking to establish a global delivery network that controls the flow of goods from factories in China and India to customer doorsteps in New York and London.”