• The Tasmanian Government is discussing setting up an Amazon marketplace specifically for businesses from the state.
• The state’s Minister for Trade has commissioned a feasibility study into the marketplace, and is looking for expressions of interests from Tasmanian businesses.
• The initiative is part of the state’s efforts to brand itself and encourage economic recovery from the fallout of the COVID-19 pandemic.
• Visit Business Insider Australia’s homepage for more stories.

Australia’s states and territories are going to great lengths to create distinctive brand identities as they market their businesses to the world. And for the nation’s island state, the next step may be onto the world’s biggest ecommerce platform.

The Tasmanian Government is thinking about launching its own Tasmanian-branded marketplace on Amazon, saying that the exclusive platform would help position the state as a producer of unique, high-quality goods.

The state’s Minister for Trade Jeremy Rockcliff has made a call out for Tasmania businesses who are interested in being involved.

“A new Tasmanian-only sales platform would help local businesses promote their products through the Tasmanian reputation for quality and find new customers and markets on the world’s biggest e-retailer,” he said in a statement.

“Amazon Australia has only been established for three years and yet already generates more than $500 million in revenue each year and presents significant opportunities for Tasmanian businesses who operate locally but seek to expand supply nationally.”

The government said the first step in the process is to complete a feasibility study with Australian Amazon specialist agency Podean. The study would assess how much interest there is from Tasmanian businesses and what value of the state-only platform would be.

“We are now seeking local businesses to take part in a full feasibility study, to finalise a business case to provide proof of concept that a Tasmanian branded marketplace will be a profitable sales channel for Tasmanian operators,” Mr Rockliff said.

In 2019, the Tasmanian Government launched its first ever Trade Strategy, which outlines that engaging with ecommerce is a priority of the state.

Amazon launched in Australia in 2017. The company allows sellers, vendors and agencies to create stores on their website, which allow them to create custom designs and collect analytics on the sales.

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