Tasmanian businesses are being encouraged to express their interest in the potential establishment of a Tasmanian branded marketplace on global e-commerce giant Amazon.

Jeremy Rockliff, Minister for Trade, believes a new Tasmanian-only sales platform could help local businesses promote their products “through the Tasmanian reputation for quality and find new customers and markets on the world’s biggest e-retailer.”

“Amazon Australia has only been established for three years and yet already generates more than $500 million in revenue each year and presents significant opportunities for Tasmanian businesses who operate locally but seek to expand supply nationally,” he said.

The said they are seeking local businesses to take part in a full feasibility study, to finalise a business case to provide proof of concept that a Tasmanian branded marketplace will be a profitable sales channel for Tasmanian operators.

Tasmanian businesses wanting to get in on the ground floor of this new online platform can lodge an expression of interest to be a part of the feasibility study.

“Amazon specialist agency Podean has been engaged to assist us to complete the feasibility study and they may seek more information from registered operators to build the business case for the Tasmanian Amazon marketplace,” Rockliff announced.

Podean describe themselves as “an Amazon-centric Managed Services Provider and a Marketplace Marketing Consultancy for the new economy. (We) harness the power and scale of Amazon’s audience data to create relevant and engaging brand experiences across all of its properties and content. We are designed to help brands connect with the modern digital consumer.”

The Tasmanian Amazon marketplace is an initiative of the Tasmanian Trade Strategy and Interim Trade Action Plan and participation in the feasibility stage will be at no cost to participating businesses.

“We recognise that trade is vital in the recovery of our economy following the impacts of COVID-19 and we will continue to support our local exporting businesses during the recovery phase,” said Rockliff.

Businesses can register their interest here or call 1800 440 026.

The Tasmanian Chamber of Commerce and Industry currently operates the Buy Something Tasmanian platform which facilitates e-commerce for Tasmanian businesses.