Amazon restricts its offer in China. The online retailer does not want to operate a market place in the People's Republic anymore or offer seller services on Amazon.cn. This was announced by a spokeswoman. The sellers would be informed.
As a result, customers in China will no longer be able to obtain third-party goods through Amazon. "Sellers interested in continuing to sell on Amazon outside of China can do so through Amazon Global Selling," said the spokeswoman.
Chinese users should continue to be able to buy imported products via Amazon in the future. Likewise, the cloud computing service Amazon Web Services and the electronic book business, Kindle E-books, will continue to exist.
Amazon has in recent years, the retail business in the Chinese market and focused more on international trade, the company said. That had met with the customers on "great interest", Amazon justified the new orientation.
Domestic competitors dominate the market
According to Reuters news agency, the US group plans to close service centers and reduce cooperation with Chinese sellers offering their goods in China over the next 90 days.
Amazon gives way to the dominance of competitors such as Alibaba and JD.com. According to a survey by iResearch Global consumer analysts, Chinese companies control nearly 82 percent of online retailing in the country.
"They give up because the business is not profitable and does not grow," writes analyst Michael Pachter of Wedbush Securities on the withdrawal of Amazon. Li Chengdong from the Beijing-based analyst institute Dolphin argues that Amazon has failed to adapt to the specificities of the Chinese market and engage in local offerings. That was a bit "arrogant," said the expert. For example, the company has stuck to its "very American style" website and for example, has given little importance to the Singles' Day popular in China.
Competition usually faster
The Singles' Day was launched in 2009 by China's online retailers as a counterpart to Valentine's Day and after the model of "Black Friday" the US Internet economy. He is due to the four consecutive 1's on November 11th. Traders lure on this day with special offers. Singles' Day is now the highest-selling shopping day in China.
Kerzheng, a marketer at Shenzhen-based e-commerce consultancy Azoya, said Amazon has little competitive edge over domestic rivals in China. Unless someone is looking for a particular imported item that can not be found elsewhere, "there is no reason for a consumer to choose Amazon because they are unable to ship things as fast as Tmall or JD."
However, the Chinese economy recently grew more slowly than in previous years. This has also captured the online trade. Alibaba posted the lowest earnings growth since 2016 in January. JD.com responded to the weaker economy by downsizing.