According to a report published by Jarden, a local investment and advisory group, Amazon, Temu, and Shein are expected to generate around $18 billion in sales in 2026, representing 36 per cent of Australia’s online retail spending.
It’s been described as a price war between global giants, each vying for the loyalty of price-sensitive Australian consumers. A report by the Australian Financial Review noted that over the past 14 years, Amazon has invested more than $25 billion across its local businesses, including more than $5 billion in 2024 alone.
“That investment has led to 20 fulfilment centres and delivery stations to offer same-day delivery in some parts of the country and more than 200 million items and 14,000 Australian businesses selling on Amazon’s marketplace,” writes Campbell Kwan.
“According to Jarden analysis, Temu has priced its products between 30 per cent and 40 per cent cheaper than Amazon on comparable items. Amazon reacted with deep discounting during its Prime Day event in July, when prices of its home category products fell on to an average of 42 per cent below the recommended retail price.
“Temu’s price difference is even more stark when compared to other platforms, with its products being generally 30 per cent to 70 per cent cheaper than similar items.”
Australia Post CEO Paul Graham recently described local consumers as “hooked” on inexpensive products from Amazon and Temu.
He suggested that, unless something dramatic changes, these two online retailers would control more than half of Australia’s digital sales by 2030. Graham told the Daily Telegraph that people are “hooked into this drug of the cheapest product available.”
“Our research shows us that by about 2030, Amazon and the other key platform players, Temu and Shein, will control around 50 per cent of the online market in Australia. It’s about 25 per cent today,” Graham said.
Graham encouraged Australian consumers to support local small and medium-sized businesses. During recent reporting on the ‘ghost store’ scammers, it was noted that many of these shady online retailers are drop-shipping inexpensive jewellery products sourced from Temu with significant markups.
During Jeweller’s 2024 State of the Industry Report, the shocking number of jewellery retailers with little to no digital presence was noted. Of the 2,010 independent jewellery stores in Australia, around 600 (30 per cent) did not have a website.
While many of these businesses were active on Facebook or Instagram, the study found that more than 250 retail jewellers (13 per cent of the market) had no digital presence whatsoever.
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