Amazon to launch dedicated website for Ireland next year

Amazon will start operating a dedicated website for Ireland – Amazon.ie – from next year.

Currently customers in the Republic of Ireland have to use Amazon’s UK site or sites in other EU countries such as Germany.

The company said a dedicated Ireland site means users will be able to avoid customs’ charges and currency conversion fees.

The implications for Amazon customers in Northern Ireland are not yet clear.

Amazon does not ship some items to Northern Ireland, such as batteries, and some consumers hope a dedicated Irish site would allow those products to be sold.

An Amazon spokesperson said it does not have further information at present “but we will have more for customers closer to launch”.

Last year, Amazon opened its first Irish fulfilment centre, a large warehouse that holds stock which is then sent out to smaller delivery centres.

The company has been expanding its network of country-specific sites in Europe such as Amazon Belgium, which launched in 2022.

Its plans for Ireland may have been accelerated by Brexit, as it became more difficult to ship goods from Great Britain to Ireland once Britain was outside the EU’s customs union.