More opportunities are opening for Thai small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) as Amazon.com expands its footprint in business-to-business (B2B) e-commerce here as part of its Asean expansion outside of Singapore.
Amazon is using its Facebook page (facebook.com/AGSSEA) to encourage Thai merchants to sell on its platform targeting the US market.
In August last year, Amazon appointed Rathiya Issarachaikul head of Amazon Global Selling Thailand. Ms Rathiya was previously the SME business manager for Facebook Thailand.
The Facebook page Amazon Global Selling Southeast Asia & ANZ announced that Amazon, the largest global e-commerce provider, has joined hands with Siam Commercial Bank, Payoneer, E-Commerce Education, Benzio Institute and DHL to launch JumpStart Chiang Mai, allowing new vendors to sell their products in the US.
Sellers on JumpStart will get free consulting and need to have products ready to sell within one month after training.
Amazon's global sales move is competing head-to-head with its US rival's eBay business model. In the past decade, eBay in Thailand has encouraged Thai sellers to export via its platform.
This is also similar to Alibaba, which appoints local partners to attract local SMEs to sell their products in China on its platform, through whom Alibaba earns revenue from commission or service fees.
American e-commerce giant Amazon has also launched its accelerated delivery service Prime Now in Singapore.
The two-hour delivery service gives shoppers access to tens of thousands of products ranging from groceries to electronics and sporting goods stocked at its new fulfilment centre in Singapore's Jurong industrial area.
A source from a giant e-marketplace said Amazon wants to recruit more suppliers to sell in the US market to use fulfilment by Amazon.
"This is the best time for local suppliers who have products to sell online in China and the US via Alibaba, JD.com, eBay and Amazon," said the source.
Amazon may not enter the business-to-consumer (B2C) market in Thailand as it needs to invest a huge amount of money, and may need a joint venture or acquisition, as JD.com and Central did.
"Amazon's Singapore operations are not very successful," said the source.
According to e.vnexpress.net, Amazon will sign a deal with the Vietnam E-commerce Association to open its platform for local SMEs.
Burin Kledmanee, chief operating of ReadyPlanet Co, who was the first Alibaba partner in Thailand and who recruited SMEs to sell online via the Alibaba platform, said Amazon's global strategy is quite similar to Alibaba and eBay, but Amazon is much more selective in accepting suppliers.
For buyers, purchasing goods from Amazon is convenient as the company stocks the items in its inventory and sells small volumes.
Pawoot Pongvitayapanu, founder of Tarad.com and president of Thai E-commerce Association, said Amazon and eBay target Thailand as a sourcing country to export to the US market.
This is a starting point and presents an opportunity for Thai exporters, said Mr Pawoot. For B2C, Amazon may take time to choose priority markets of its domestic sales.
Sheji Ho, chief marketing officer for aCommerce, said the move is nothing new as Amazon has been running sourcing operations in Thailand for the last two years and recently launched in Vietnam.
The initiative is B2B, not B2C, because Amazon Global Sourcing is looking for SMEs to set up shop on Amazon and sell from Thailand to global users, he said.
"In many ways this is similar to Thai SMEs selling to a global audience on eBay and Alibaba," he said.
Mr Hosaid Amazon is training businesses to sell online, starting with exports.