Now, Scandinavians can start shopping on Amazon.se. More than 150 million products across more than 30 categories will certainly tempt Scandinavian customers with free delivery on eligible orders above SEK 229. Thousands of European and local Swedish businesses offer reliable service and Swedes welcome Amazon.
In Europe, Amazon has already launched stores in France, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands, Spain and the U.K.
Related: Amazon Web Services (AWS) to Expand in Sweden
Spelling mistakes
It did not last long, however, before Swedish media pointed out numerous spelling mistakes and translation errors on the Amazon website. But when Scandinavian shoppers now are able to order products online through Amazon.se instead of having to make purchases via Amazon stores in other countries, we’re convinced Amazon will be forgiven and the errors will be corrected in due time.
“We are thrilled to launch Amazon.se and to be able to offer Swedish customers a selection of more than 150 million products, including tens of thousands of products from local Swedish businesses,” said Alex Ootes, Vice President, European Expansion for Amazon in a press release. “Today is only the start of Amazon.se. We will continue to work hard to earn the trust of Swedish customers by growing our product range, ensuring low prices, and providing a convenient and trusted shopping experience.”
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Over 150 million products
Amazon Vice President for European Expansion, Alex Ootes, said in a statement that Amazon.se will feature over 150 million products including tens of thousands from Swedish businesses like Electrolux, Lagerhaus, OBH Nordica, Ellos, BRIO, Bonnierförlagen and Ifö, as well as big brand favorites like ASUS, Mattel, Hasbro, LEGO and Bosch.
However, back to translation problems. Sweden’s Aftonbladet newspaper reported that a greeting card with a giant rooster was translated into words rudely referencing male genitalia. The word “rapeseed” for several products was simply translated as “valdtakt,” which means rape in Swedish. A baking tin was described for use with “feces.”
Ensuring trusted shopping experience
“We will continue to work hard to earn the trust of Swedish customers by growing our product range, ensuring low prices, and providing a convenient and trusted shopping experience,” said Ootes.
With the launch of Amazon.se, it will be easier for Swedish businesses to sell their products on Amazon, reach more customers and expand. Amazon has invested billions of dollars in infrastructure and technical services that help small and medium-sized businesses reach new customers across Sweden and around the world, including simple listing tools that support all seven European Amazon stores, enabling easy expansion within Europe, as well as 24/7 online Selling Partner support.
“Many products on Amazon Sweden came from auto-translated listings on other Amazon marketplaces, which enabled it to have a deep catalog on day one, but has unfortunately resulted in many wrong, sometimes comical, and even offensive Swedish translations,” wrote Juozas Kaziukenas, founder of e-commerce intelligence firm Marketplace Pulse.
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The launch also got off to a bit of a bad start as the Swedish flag on the country selection function was mistakenly shown as Argentina’s.
Committed to constantly improving the customer experience
In response, Amazon issued a statement saying: “We want to thank everyone for highlighting these issues and helping us make the changes and improve Amazon.se. Whilst we are really excited to have launched Amazon.se today with more than 150 million products, it is only day one for us here in Sweden and we are committed to constantly improving the customer experience.”
Swedes Welcome Amazon, written by Tor Kjolberg