Nine of out 10 Australians would prefer to buy from Amazon if it keeps its promises on low prices, selection and fast delivery, a survey has found.
The American giant is expected to enter the Australian market later this year.
The survey of 1001 adults, commissioned by parcel delivery company CouriersPlease, also sought to find out whether online shoppers would prefer to buy from a retailer who specialised in a single category or one that provided multiple product categories.
It found that 58% of the respondents preferred the single category outlet.
{loadposition sam08}Looking at the three factors that Amazon has promised to deliver - low prices, fast delivery and choice - the survey found that lower prices was the main driving factor for shoppers choosing Amazon with 68% saying this was the main driver.
Fast delivery was a decisive factor for 30%.
Price was more important to millennials in the 20s (71%) and 30s (70%), while it ranked lower for 50-somethings (63%) and those over 60 (64%).
CouriersPlease chief operating officer Hoy Yen Hooper said: “Amazon’s promises of lower prices and faster delivery times may put pressure on existing local retailers and the supply chain, but I believe we will become better at what we do.
"In the US and UK markets, where Amazon has a large share of the retail market, one-hour delivery through Amazon Prime and competitive prices are being offered.
"In our survey, fast delivery was the least important reason for shopping on Amazon which may indicate that consumers in regional and country areas know that delivery may take longer as it is not commercially viable for many providers to have that sort of reach.
Hooper said Amazon would be attracted to delivery services that provided consumers with flexible delivery choices "such as enabling them to pick up at retail outlets such as newsagents, grocery stores and petrol stations, consistency in delivery, and reliability in keeping with expected delivery transit times".
"Consumers really value consistency and reliability: an item that is due to arrive within three days will arrive within three days 90% of the time," she added.