Amazon Australia has announced plans to open a new fulfilment centre in Brisbane later this year. It will be the e-commerce giant’s fourth facility in the country, in addition to its warehouses Sydney, Melbourne and Perth.
The fulfilment centre, located at Goodman’s Port Industry Park in Lytton, is set to begin operations before Christmas and will bring faster delivery to customers in Queensland, the online retailer said in a statement.
Currently, only customers in eligible post codes in Sydney, Melbourne and Perth have access to same-day delivery. It costs $9.99 for those with Prime and $12.99 for those without.
Customers in Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide, Canberra and Perth can get free expedited delivery (1-2 business days) if they have Prime, or pay $5.99 if they don’t.
But the fastest delivery option (1 business day) for customers in many other metropolitan areas, including the Gold Coast, costs $9.99 – even for those with Prime. Those without currently need to pay $11.99.
“We are committed to improving delivery promises for our customers as demand continues to grow, and building infrastructure closer to where our customers and third-party sellers live enables us to do this, while reducing our environmental impact,” Craig Fuller, Amazon Australia’s director of operations, said in a statement.
Fuller called Brisbane a “key strategic location” for the company.
“This significant investment will benefit Queensland customers and small to medium size businesses, as well as create around 200 job opportunities to support the local economy,” he said.
“We’re proud to have played a unique role in supporting Australians during this unprecedented time, helping our customers to get the goods they need for their families without leaving their homes.”
The new fulfilment centre will be around the same size as two Rugby League fields, housing more than half a million items. A high proportion of these items the will be the products Queenslanders most commonly purchase from Amazon, the retailer said.
The facility will also house items sold by third-party sellers that use Amazon’s fulfilment service, where Amazon picks, packs and ships orders to customers, provides customer service support and manages returns on behalf of sellers in exchange for a percentage of the sale.
Queensland Premier Annastacia Palaszczuk said the commitment is a “clera indicator” of Amazon’s confidence in the state’s economic recovery. The development and fit-out of the facility will support more than 170 construction jobs.
Amazon Australia has expanded significantly since launching in December 2017. It now offers 125 million products across 30 different categories, and continues to expand into new areas, most recently alcohol.
The company had a net loss of $4.7 million on $562.1 million in revenue in FY19.
