The latest promotional discounts to Amazon Prime members on photographic prints, sent to PhotoCounter by our special Hawaiian correspondent, Harvey Gordon (formerly a leading Sydney-based photo specialist), certainly catches the eye!
‘If and when Amazon launch in Australia, promotions like this will happen often,’ wrote Harvey.
The standard price for 6×4-inch Amazon prints is 9 cents US – about 14 Australian cents with GST included.
Harvey said he took the offer up and noted, ‘The ordering process was quite simple, cropping allowed but no colour correction tool. Upload process was fast and checkout was simple to understand’
There were no hidden charges and the total – including delivery – was indeed just one US dollar! (Harvey is an Amazon Prime member, so qualifies for free delivery.)
– Not only that, but the order shipped in two or three days! He will follow up with some comments on quality when the order is delivered.
Will this be a further blow to photo specialists’ printing businesses? It could be argued that the threat is more to the businesses which cater to the bargain-hunting (bottom-feeding?) segment of the market – the people who accumulate their digital image files and put in big orders during one of Harvey Norman’s regular 10 cent print weeks.
Will Amazon’s 1 cent prints destroy the ‘value proposition’ of 8c and 10c offers from the mass merchants if it accompanies Amazon’s predicted establishment of an Australian-based business?
Will Gerry Harvey, Big W, Officeworks, et al scream predatory pricing, or match Amazon? Cheap prints seem to be a vital element in generating foot traffic, especially for HN outlets. Could this be a case, for smaller retailers, of the enemy of my enemy being my friend?
What do you think?
Thats an interesting proposition. It may well be the case that having always feared the menacing large predators outside your door, a predator much larger comes along and eats them. You then notice that the much larger predator isnt really interested in you or the market you cater to. A potential better co existence perhaps?