For those of us who happen to live in a country where Amazon hasn"t hung its hat yet, online shopping can be a pain. This is even more apparent when looking for an item that one cannot find in any local store, or if you do, it usually comes at a hefty price. The online retail giant has recently announced a new update to its app on Android and iOS, that should theoretically alleviate some of these issues.
Announced today, Amazon revealed a new shopping experience for international consumers. Among the changes introduced are support for five languages including Spanish and Portuguese. In addition to this, the app will now automatically display prices in your local currency - if it"s among the 25 supported countries - including shipping and customs duties for that specific market. The app will only show products that can be shipped to international markets; however, if the need arises you can always switch back to the U.S. storefront.
Samir Kumar, Vice President of Amazon"s Exports and Expansion division noted:
“We are always innovating on behalf of our customers, and with today’s launch, we are making the shopping experience on mobile devices even better and more convenient for our customers who live outside the US. Customers have been asking for a way to easily find and shop only for products available to be shipped to them. The International Shopping experience solves this customer need and makes it simple to browse, shop and ship more than 45 million products to over a hundred countries around the world.”
For those looking to jump right in, the free update to the Android and the iOS app is available right now according to the company. Once downloaded, you need to set your Country & Language to "International Shopping" if it does not do so automatically.