4 ms·

It's actually shocking there's not a EU wide Amazon.

by emptyfile 10y ago

scottmf 10y ago
Or telling, perhaps?
- david927 10y ago
  Bezos is infamous for his ego, and I think he just doesn't see it. Actually, I think that this is the chink in Amazon's armor, the bare patch on Smaug's underside. Only a few European countries have Amazon stores and the brand loyalty for them isn't strong. A single EU store would become quickly popular and has the potential to be bigger than Amazon, given that the EU is larger than the US in market size.
adventured 10y ago
There is, it's Amazon. They're closing in on $20 billion in European sales, growing at double digits, with something like 50,000 employees. If you look at what they're doing in Europe, Amazon is getting more aggressive by the year in terms of expanding and investing there.
- TulliusCicero 10y ago
  I think what the poster was saying is that the major sites are still country-specific, like I moved to Germany and here I use amazon.de, amazon.uk is a different site, so is amazon.fr, etc.
- klausjensen 10y ago
  I use Amazon in Europa a LOT, but funny enough it is not ONE amazon in EU, it is many - and I have to search for products on all of them, because what is available in amazon.de might not be available in amazon.co.uk. And there are obviously language barriers - and having to do math to convert currencies etc. It is anything but smooth right now - unless you are in one of the countries, that have their own amazon.tld, of course. I want amazon.eu, where I can filter by products, that can actually be shipped to my EU country - one stop shopping. I would probably stop buying online from local shops in my country entirely.
  - pawadu 10y ago
    I think most people buy their stuff from amazon.co.uk or if they happen to be in Germany then maybe also amazon.de The store segmentation is created by amazon themselves and doesn't really make sense.
  - kbart 10y ago
    "I want amazon.eu, where I can filter by products, that can actually be shipped to my EU country" 100 hundred times this! I avoid using Amazon just for their shipping information stupidity - I have to use checkout to be able to see if selected item can be shipped to my country. I find it funny and bizarre that it's easier to order online from China (which is half the World away) than from neighboring countries that belong to the same free trade zone. Ebay has an "EU only" search option, but it's useless as Ebay itself has become smaller Aliexpress cousin with same items and higher prices.
  - herbst 10y ago
    Exactly. Amazon.de does bot ship the majority of stuff to switzerland. Amazon.it however does but i cant speak italian
    - Lanthanide 10y ago
      You can switch Amazon.de to English from the account settings; is that not the case with Amazon.it?
      - herbst 10y ago
        I think its possible, but product titles and descriptions dont care.
- ddoran 10y ago
  And a small European country like Ireland doesn't get its own Amazon store so they have to rely on Amazon.co.uk, where everything is priced in Sterling (not Euro). Irish customers can't avail of Amazon Prime, shipping times take longer etc. A federated Amazon.eu with a continent-wide distribution network may help. Goods priced in Euro certainly would.
  - ricardonunez 10y ago
    Did you try Amazon.de and switch language to English? I'm just wondering.
    - dx034 10y ago
      I guess that different articles and longer delivery times than amazon.co.uk are a reason to prefer the UK version.
  - dmoo 10y ago
    which is ironic, given the size of Amazon investment in Ireland. https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/amazon-dublin-data-centre https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/amazon-dublin-dat...
  - secfirstmd 10y ago
    Yeh it's a joke seeing as they are based here. And so many of us have to use Parcel Motel service to send things to Northern Ireland and have it driven down. Surely Amazon can make a little extra margin by doing that itself.
    - mydigitalself 10y ago
      1. Get a pair of really giant hands 2. Repeat the bit "seeing as they are based here" and make really giant air quotes when you say "based" 3. Profit (without tax)

It's actually shocking there's not a EU wide Amazon.

scottmf 10y ago

Or telling, perhaps?

david927 10y ago
Bezos is infamous for his ego, and I think he just doesn't see it. Actually, I think that this is the chink in Amazon's armor, the bare patch on Smaug's underside. Only a few European countries have Amazon stores and the brand loyalty for them isn't strong. A single EU store would become quickly popular and has the potential to be bigger than Amazon, given that the EU is larger than the US in market size.

adventured 10y ago

There is, it's Amazon. They're closing in on $20 billion in European sales, growing at double digits, with something like 50,000 employees. If you look at what they're doing in Europe, Amazon is getting more aggressive by the year in terms of expanding and investing there.

TulliusCicero 10y ago
I think what the poster was saying is that the major sites are still country-specific, like I moved to Germany and here I use amazon.de, amazon.uk is a different site, so is amazon.fr, etc.
klausjensen 10y ago
I use Amazon in Europa a LOT, but funny enough it is not ONE amazon in EU, it is many - and I have to search for products on all of them, because what is available in amazon.de might not be available in amazon.co.uk. And there are obviously language barriers - and having to do math to convert currencies etc. It is anything but smooth right now - unless you are in one of the countries, that have their own amazon.tld, of course. I want amazon.eu, where I can filter by products, that can actually be shipped to my EU country - one stop shopping. I would probably stop buying online from local shops in my country entirely.
- pawadu 10y ago
  I think most people buy their stuff from amazon.co.uk or if they happen to be in Germany then maybe also amazon.de The store segmentation is created by amazon themselves and doesn't really make sense.
- kbart 10y ago
  "I want amazon.eu, where I can filter by products, that can actually be shipped to my EU country" 100 hundred times this! I avoid using Amazon just for their shipping information stupidity - I have to use checkout to be able to see if selected item can be shipped to my country. I find it funny and bizarre that it's easier to order online from China (which is half the World away) than from neighboring countries that belong to the same free trade zone. Ebay has an "EU only" search option, but it's useless as Ebay itself has become smaller Aliexpress cousin with same items and higher prices.
- herbst 10y ago
  Exactly. Amazon.de does bot ship the majority of stuff to switzerland. Amazon.it however does but i cant speak italian
  - Lanthanide 10y ago
    You can switch Amazon.de to English from the account settings; is that not the case with Amazon.it?
    - herbst 10y ago
      I think its possible, but product titles and descriptions dont care.
ddoran 10y ago
And a small European country like Ireland doesn't get its own Amazon store so they have to rely on Amazon.co.uk, where everything is priced in Sterling (not Euro). Irish customers can't avail of Amazon Prime, shipping times take longer etc. A federated Amazon.eu with a continent-wide distribution network may help. Goods priced in Euro certainly would.
- ricardonunez 10y ago
  Did you try Amazon.de and switch language to English? I'm just wondering.
  - dx034 10y ago
    I guess that different articles and longer delivery times than amazon.co.uk are a reason to prefer the UK version.
- dmoo 10y ago
  which is ironic, given the size of Amazon investment in Ireland. https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/amazon-dublin-data-centre https://www.siliconrepublic.com/enterprise/amazon-dublin-dat...
- secfirstmd 10y ago
  Yeh it's a joke seeing as they are based here. And so many of us have to use Parcel Motel service to send things to Northern Ireland and have it driven down. Surely Amazon can make a little extra margin by doing that itself.
  - mydigitalself 10y ago
    1. Get a pair of really giant hands 2. Repeat the bit "seeing as they are based here" and make really giant air quotes when you say "based" 3. Profit (without tax)