Global online retailer Amazon is preparing to launch its Hebrew-language Israeli site within weeks, the Globes business website reported last week.
According to the report, while Israeli retailers are hoping that the site will be up and running to allow shoppers to take advantage of Amazon's Prime Day, which falls in mid-July, a more realistic date for the Israeli site launch is in August, ahead of the start of the 2019-2020 school year and before the High Holidays.
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In May, Amazon was contacting Israeli suppliers on its platform to offer them to be among the first to sell locally to customers through its Fulfillment By Merchant (FBM) sales method.
"Dear friend, We are pleased to invite you to be part of a group of selected sellers and to participate in the Local Delivery program in Israel," wrote Amazon co-founder and CEO Jeff Bezos in the Hebrew-language invitation, according to The Jerusalem Post.
FBM means that sellers list their products on Amazon but ship them to buyers themselves, rather than via the online giant's distribution service.
FBM can be a stepping stone before the online giant establishes its own warehouses.
The move to begin local operations comes after Amazon briefly provided free shipping for goods exceeding $75 to Israel at the end of last summer.
In 2017, Amazon announced that it would set up a couple of research and development centers in Haifa and Tel Aviv.
Parts of this article were originally published by i24NEWS.
