Amazon Australia opens the doors of its massive Sydney warehouse

It was only in May that Amazon Australia began work on its second fulfilment centre in Sydney’s south-western suburb of Moorebank. Within months, the warehouse has become operational and officially opened its doors for business.

With 43,000 square metres of indoor space, the Sydney fulfilment centre is nearly twice the size of the one in Melbourne, making it easier for the online marketplace to keep its promise of fast delivery times, especially for Amazon Prime members.

The large space also makes room for a wider product range, allowing “thousands of small and medium-sized Australian businesses” to use Amazon’s fulfilment program “to more easily access customers across the country”.

"This is an exciting milestone for Amazon in Australia,” said Robert Bruce, Amazon’s Director of Operations. He added that "the Sydney facility in Moorebank will help Amazon ensure that customers enjoy fast and reliable delivery across more areas of the country," and "builds on the capabilities of our first fulfilment centre in Dandenong South in Victoria, and expands our ability to service the growing customer demand".

Stiff competition

Given Amazon’s popularity in other international markets, retailers and online marketplaces in Australia needed to step up their game if they wanted to be able to compete with Amazon.

In a bid to compete with Amazon, online auction site eBay recently launched its eBay Plus subscription service in Australia, which provides subscribers with free shipping and returns on eligible products.

It’s similar to Amazon Prime, which is priced very aggressively in Australia at just $59 a year, half the cost than the US service. eBay Plus – which is available in only Germany and Australia at the moment – has an annual fee of $49. However, Amazon’s Prime service comes with other perks, like free access to Prime Video and Prime Reading.