Amazon is expected to enter the Israeli marketplace, with the online retailer sending an email on Monday night to Israeli sellers already using its site “to register to reach customers in Israel,” reported Ynet on Tuesday.
Amazon will operate in the Jewish state as merchants will operate on the platform and be responsible for shipping and handling, according to Ynet. This system is known as a “fulfillment by merchant,” or FBM.
The company currently “makes deliveries to Israel through the Israeli postal system, mainly from the U.S. and Europe, causing long delays and high shipping costs, which may deter Israeli customers from placing orders with the company,” according to Calcalist.
“This is indeed Amazon’s first foothold [in Israel], as we have seen in other markets around the world to test market viability,” a representative of DealTas, a Boston-based shipping company that sends products from the United States to Israeli buyers, told The Jerusalem Post.
“However, it is not about opening Amazon warehouses and direct sales in Israel. Usually, this stage will be a matter of several years, during which Amazon will evaluate local regulations for the establishment of an operations and logistics system based on the size of the market.”
