Simple advantages of getting in early on Amazon South Africa

Amazon doesn’t open in a new country often. It takes years of analysis, planning, and implementation for their eCommerce platform to launch anew somewhere. So when Amazon – a business with over 300 million customers which generates nearly 600 billion dollars per year – opens in a new country, then you should pay attention.

For South African businesses, or those looking to sell in South Africa, it’s a unique opportunity. I wouldn’t say an ‘incredible opportunity’ since it is possible that selling on Amazon would not be a success for your business…

(Possible, but unlikely… see our article on 5 misunderstood reasons that business owners avoid eComm on LinkedIn or on our website’s blog, which discusses how almost any product can be – and already is – sold online.)

However, the uniqueness is incredible since Amazon will never open in South Africa again. And therein lies an opportunity; when Amazon SA launches, it will be the least saturated it ever will be. Therefore, there is a chance to 1) spend less on marketing, and 2) cement your product ranking.

To elaborate; (1) due to less competition there is an opportunity to utilize cost-saving marketing strategies. Marketing (PPC advertising campaigns) is essential on Amazon, a ‘pay to play’ platform, where without marketing your product visibility will be poor due to a self-reinforcing cycle of; low sales – > low reviews -> bad ranking -> low sales.

To that extent, the best time for launching your business on Amazon would be as soon as it opens. This is a cost-saving strategy in the short term (spending less on marketing) and a money-making strategy in the long term (strong product ranking). And that time is right now, as Amazon is guaranteed to open in 2024, it could be next week.

That leads to point (2); cementing your product’s ranking. By listing early, your product’s keywords will have less competition (internationally as well as domestically, since the former will also boom in years to come on Amazon South Africa), and therefore secure its spot in ranking algorithms. This contributes to sales, which generate reviews, and together lead to highly ranked products. Then, with your products appearing on the first page of results – or as the first result – sales can consistently grow.

Some people uproot their lives and move to the new country that Amazon is launching in… The global e-commerce industry is over 6 trillion USD (bigger than the GDP of any country besides the US and China), and South Africa’s E-Commerce sales are growing faster than the international average.

This fast growth is supported by the lower base of the nominal value of SA’s eComm market, however, it is still significant in representing the prevalent trend of eCommerce in South Africa. Curiously, SA is also the country with close to the highest hours of screen time per person… There are 113 million (190% of the population) cellular connections in South Africa, a market that still grew over 20% in Q3 2023.

Besides these interesting points, the macro trend is clear: eCommerce is taking an ever-increasing share of sales. People simply love the convenience, the variety, the reviews.

So, does positioning your brand to take advantage of this clear trend make sense? With Amazon, the ultimate eCommerce platform, opening afresh (unsaturated + new opportunity) in your country, the answer is clear.

The answer is especially obvious when you weigh these mentioned pros against apparent cons. Consider that the financial barrier of entry is only a small sum, standing on its own, even without comparing it to opening a new brick-and-mortar store or trying to sell your product in retail shelves. And the margins are similar to retail, considering consumers are willing to pay more online.

So, these are the simple reasons that Amazon South Africa should be on your to-do list. Contact us, and we’ll make it easy.

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