On Friday, Amazon was announced the debut of Amazon Bazaar, a new low-cost shopping destination for Asia, Africa and Latin America that will be available separately from Amazon’s main shopping app. At Bazaar, most items are available under $10, and some are as low as $2, the retailer says.
The product option, now available on Android and iOS, will be available on its own app available in Hong Kong, Philippines, Taiwan, Kuwait, Qatar, Bahrain, Oman, Peru, Ecuador, Argentina, Costa Rica, Dominican Republic, Jamaica and Nigeria.
Amazon says more markets will gain access to the app in the coming months.
The application has significant overlap with Amazon Haulwhich launched last November as a competitor to Shein and Temu. Haul operates as part of Amazon’s main website and app and will remain available in its existing markets, including US, United Kingdom, Germany, France, Italy, Spain, Japanand Australia.
In other markets, Amazon had already rebranded Amazon Haul as Bazaar, where it was available through Amazon’s main shopping app. This version also remains available at Mexico, Saudi Arabiaand the United Arab Emiratesexcept India. (Amazon using two names for the same low-cost inventory selection is confusing! But Amazon believes that the different names “better resonate with local language preferences and cultures”.)
The move to create a standalone shopping destination for its cheaper inventory signals Amazon stepping up competition with low-cost Chinese shopping apps such as Temu, Shein and TikTok (TikTok Shop), which have been widely adopted by younger users and others without as much disposable income for clothing, decor, electronics and other household goods.
The Bazaar app will offer those users “hundreds of thousands” of affordable products in categories such as fashion, homeware and lifestyle products, the retailer says. Product pages feature familiar Amazon features such as customer reviews and star ratings.
Customers use the same Amazon credentials to shop and check out, where they can use Visa, Mastercard or American Express. Orders must meet local minimum purchase amount to qualify for free shipping. (This varies by market.) For smaller orders, a standard delivery fee is charged.
Shipping takes about 2 weeks or less, returns are free within 15 days of receipt, and Amazon offers multilingual customer support. The app itself supports six languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, German and Traditional Chinese.
The app will also attract customers with interactive features such as social sweepstakes and promotions — things made popular by Chinese shopping apps. New customers will also receive 50% off their first delivery as an incentive to try the app.
