South Africans miss out on Amazon Prime Day sales

16 Jul 2024

Amazon is silent on whether customers in this country will get Amazon Prime, although marketplace sellers are reportedly already unhappy with the e-commerce giant’s conduct which forces them to adjust product prices to match or undercut listings on platforms such as Takealot.

Rivalled only by Black Friday, Amazon Prime Day is one of the biggest and best times to bag a bargain – but South Africans are unable to participate in the shopping bonanza because we don’t have Prime and there is no indication when, if ever, the American e-commerce giant will launch it locally.

Amazon is also facing growing complaints about its marketplace conduct, which is forcing sellers to match or undercut their prices on competing platforms such as Takealot.

Prime Day

For customers, this year’s Prime event promised to be the biggest yet, with massive discounts on everything from tech and home essentials to beauty products. Exclusive to Prime members, the two-day shopping extravaganza kicked off on Tuesday and runs for 48 hours.

Amazon Prime offers more than just fast, free shipping. Members enjoy exclusive access to deals like Prime Day, early access to Lightning Deals, and the option to try clothing and accessories before buying. Entertainment benefits include streaming movies and TV shows with Prime Video, listening to ad-free music with Prime Music, and reading books, magazines, and more with Prime Reading. Prime members also enjoy perks like unlimited photo storage and food delivery benefits.

On Prime Day, the retailer slashes prices on big-ticket items like mattresses, laptops, Apple products and other electronics.

An Amazon spokesperson said Prime “does not exist” in South Africa and they have no further comment.

On the Amazon.com website, the company said this year’s 10th Prime Day event will give Prime members exclusive access to millions of deals across more than 35 categories including electronics, kitchen, beauty and apparel.

New deals will drop “as often as” every five minutes throughout the event.

“Back this year, ahead of the event, Prime members can also request an invitation to access invite-only deals — exclusive Prime Day deals expected to sell out — including up to 40% off Sony Wireless Headphones and up to 30% off Peloton products.”

Jamil Ghani, vice president of Amazon Prime, said in a news release: “Prime Day is a celebration of the value we bring to members all year long, and features millions of deals across more than 35 product categories as well as discounts on Amazon Devices, quality entertainment, groceries, travel, and more during the event.

He said that throughout 2024, “Amazon customers saved nearly $24-billion from deals and coupons – with Prime members enjoying the vast majority of those savings − including over $2.5-billion during Prime Day 2023”.

New to market

In October last year, after years of speculation about its launch date, Amazon invited both individual and professional sellers to sign up to its platform ahead of its official launch in South Africa. It said sellers could list up to 40 items for a R10 fee per sale, while professionals would pay a discounted R1 monthly fee (regularly R400) and gain access to advanced tools.

In May, it finally arrived, directly challenging the current leader, Takealot, which is backed by Naspers. At the time, it said it was not bothered by competition from Takealot and said it would focus on customers.

Complaints

Barely four months later, some South African resellers have already raised concerns about Amazon’s marketplace practices.

MyBroadband reports that sellers have accused Amazon of pressuring them to adjust product prices to match or undercut listings on platforms like Takealot.

This alleged pressure reportedly manifests by limiting product visibility. If a seller’s price on Amazon is higher than their Takealot listing, the “Add to cart” button may vanish, drastically reducing the product’s exposure and chance of being purchased.

One independent seller told MyBroadband that they were being forced to adjust prices on 10 items to match discounted Takealot listings. Another described regaining pricing control only after a Takealot promotion ended.

Amazon has acknowledged ongoing competitor price monitoring, but Rob Koen, managing director of Amazon Sub-Saharan Africa, denies that they are forcing third-party sellers to adjust prices.

He says they set their own prices. “Amazon offers optional tools to support them in offering competitive, low prices, including the ability to choose to sign up for notifications when their prices are no longer competitive. Our selling partners are incredibly important to us and we work hard to help them grow their businesses.

Every day, our global teams work to provide sellers with the strategies, answers, guidance, programmes, and solutions they need to succeed in our store, and if sellers ever have an issue, our seller support teams are available 24/7 to help them over phone, chat, or email.”

The allegations could put Amazon in the sights of the Competition Commission.

Last year’s Online Intermediation Platforms Market Inquiry, which was released in July, was launched because the commission suspected there were market features of online platforms that might impede, distort or restrict competition.

The commission took a strong position against Takealot’s market conduct, particularly over its “narrow price parity” which prevents sellers from pricing lower on their own websites. DM

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