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Consumers say Amazon failed in China because it didn't adapt
Chinese consumers said Amazon couldn’t compete with local ecommerce behemoths Alibaba and JD
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This article originally appeared on ABACUS
When Amazon announced it would stop operating its China marketplace starting July 18, Chinese consumers hardly seemed disappointed. Amazon deserves to be pushed out, they said, because of its inability to adapt in their country.
Once its store is closed, Amazon shoppers in China will no longer be able to buy goods from third-party merchants in the country. Instead, they will only be able to order products from Amazon’s global store.
The announcement doesn’t mean one of the world’s most valuable companies is completely withdrawing from China, though. The company intends to focus more on selling overseas goods and cloud services in the country.
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However, since Amazon now has about 2,000 employees in China, pulling the plug on its China marketplace will likely incur layoffs, according to the China Business Journal. Amazon China president Elaine Chang is also reportedly leaving.
The move doesn’t seem to be a complete surprise in China. Chinese netizens said they expected Amazon to shut down its Chinese marketplace because it failed to adapt to local tastes, which it had 15 years to do.
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