E-commerce giant Amazon generated strong sales growth of up to 40% in major European markets on Black Friday and is poised for booming cross-border sales from Germany this year as the number of fulfilment customers rises fast.
Amazon has released some figures for local markets in Europe for Black Friday (November 25), although it has not yet announced any numbers for global, US or UK sales for Black Friday, Cyber Monday or the long Thanksgiving Day holiday weekend in the USA.
In France, Amazon said that it received about 1.4 million orders on Black Friday, which was a 40% rise on last year. Top-selling products included Kindle devices and the PS4 games console. More than 1,000 French SMEs participated in Black Friday and tripled their orders compared to 2015.
“Customers showed us once again how much they appreciate Black Friday and the opportunity to make substantial savings on their Christmas purchases,” said Frederic Duval, Country Manager France.
In Italy, Amazon received 1.1 million orders on Black Friday, which was a new record, although no comparison was made to last year’s sales volumes. The hundreds of merchants with special offers on the Italian marketplace more than doubled orders compared to Black Friday last year.
"Customers have shown once again how much they love the Black Friday offers and the chance to take advantage of big savings for their Christmas purchases," commented François Nuyts, Country Manager of Amazon Italy and Spain.
Amazon has not released any overall Black Friday sales figures for Germany but said briefly that it already sold a record 1.4 million products by 12:00 midday that day.
However, the company has announced that German-based businesses selling on Amazon Marketplace are expected to achieve export sales of more than €2 billion in 2016, up more than 30% year-on-year. More than 60% of the tens of thousands German-based businesses selling on Amazon Marketplace are exporting to customers around the world, with the number exporting to European customers up by more than 20% in the last year.
In Germany, the number of businesses taking advantage of the Fulfilment by Amazon service has increased by more than 70% in the last year, Amazon also pointed out.
The record export sales follow the April launch of Pan-European Fulfilment by Amazon, a service where Amazon stores, picks, packs and delivers items to customers on behalf of sellers, who in turn can sell across Europe whilst only paying the local fulfilment fee of the destination country.
Fulfilment by Amazon (FBA) services also help sellers to grow their business by making their products eligible for Amazon Prime, meaning they will have access to millions of Amazon’s most loyal customers, along with Amazon’s trusted and acclaimed customer service. By being part of FBA, Marketplace sellers scale their business and boost overseas sales, whilst incurring lower costs than if they invested in their own warehousing and logistical solutions.
“The days of only being able to sell products to customers in one town, region or country are long gone,” said Francois Saugier, Vice President of EU Seller Services. “Today, businesses of all sizes can easily export their products to customers across Europe and the world, and we are seeing a significant increase in the number of German-based businesses capitalizing on this opportunity.”
“Our aim is to provide the tools and services that allow businesses that sell abroad as it is in their home country,” said Dr. Markus Schoeberl, Director Seller Services and responsible for Amazon Marketplace in Germany. “Every day, we are seeing more German-based businesses expanding their horizons by offering their products on a European or global basis, opening themselves up to tens of millions of additional potential customers at the click of a button.”
Amazon said it has created a suite of support tools to help German businesses to sell their products across Europe and the world, including support with managing currency exchange, VAT registrations, local translations and providing global delivery and distribution. As a result, businesses of all sizes can now sell globally across Amazon’s eleven websites in seven languages to reach hundreds of millions of customers in every corner of the globe.
Until December 31, small businesses can apply for the support program “Entrepreneurs of the Future – Locally and around the World”. The program, initiated by WirtschaftsWoche and Amazon, supports small businesses with up to 20 employees to enter or expand their online business and sell online internationally. Starting in January 2017, a team of digital experts as well as experienced Amazon sellers – will provide a free of charge coaching for several months to guide selected business owners to online success. The most successful small businesses will be honored with the “Entrepreneur of the Future” award in spring 2017.
