Amazon, the world’s biggest online retailer, recently announced its Amazon Global programme. The programme will enable international shoppers, from previously officially unsupported countries, order items from the online store and have them delivered directly to their home addresses.
By this extension, majority of items in Amazon’s product catalogue (automotive, baby, clothing, consumer electronics, health and personal care, home and garden, industrial and scientific, jewellery, pet supplies, shoes, software, sporting goods, tools, toys, video games and watches) can now be shipped directly to a total of 76 countries. That number includes 4 African countries – Egypt, Kenya, Nigeria and South Africa.
In case you were worrying about clearance at customs, Amazon has got you covered:
We estimate the import fee deposit during checkout and provide customs clearance on your behalf
So all you have to do is pull up the Amazon Global homepage, place your order and wait for it to arrive, hopefully in good time. Of course while you wait, you will be able to receive updates about where your shipment is and when it will be delivered.
Before now, online shoppers in Nigeria have found workarounds to Amazon’s international shipping limitations. The most popular of these solutions are proxy shopping apps like MallForAfrica, that handled ordering and shipping to Nigeria for a fee. It will be interesting to see how they respond to this new development. Of course, local replicas of Amazon – the likes of Konga and Jumia, may also have a thing or two to worry about. Or maybe not, if we might consider shipping charges?
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