By: William Brederode – News24

After years of anticipation, Amazon.co.za is officially live.

The US-based e-commerce giant launched its online South African store overnight. It is now possible to make purchases from Amazon on the South African store, with pricing in rands. Some products are, however, still 'temporarily out of stock'. 

Amazon released a cryptic announcement in October last year, declaring that it would launch Amazon.co.za sometime in 2024. Amazon has also been coy about the level of investment it has been making in the country.

Since then, third-party sellers have been able to register to start selling on the site. 

Amazon Web Services has been operating in South Africa for a number of years, but today is the official start of the company’s e-commerce operations.

Amazon’s vast experience in e-commerce is expected to bring significant competition to local e-commerce operators like Takealot.

Amazon joins Chinese-owned Temu, which has been growing rapidly, in launching e-commerce operations in South Africa this year.