Amazon logistics center
Amazon logistics centeriStock

Global online retail giant Amazon on Sunday launched its local delivery service in Israel, the Globes financial newspaper reports.

For the time being, Amazon’s Israel website is only in English but a Hebrew website should be available in the coming few weeks. Amazon's Israel operations have been launched after 30 months of preparations coordinated by representatives from Amazon's Berlin office.

Several hours before the site was launched, Israeli vendors received an official announcement from Amazon, "We are happy to let you know that the local delivery program has been launched on Amazon.com. Feel free to check in with offers of excellent value to Israeli customers. If you've planned marketing or public relations campaigns you can introduce them now."

Amazon had hoped to launch in Israel with its Hebrew site, according to Globes, but pressure from international headquarters to begin services before the Jewish holidays has meant that the service in Israel is for the time being only available in English.

This will have an adverse effect on sales because many Israeli consumers prefer to use sites where they can have a shopping experience in Hebrew including a Hebrew search engine.

Product prices on the new Israel site are in shekels and the website includes a feature enabling consumers to filter out products from abroad. Local delivery should mean that products are cheaper and shipped more quickly.

The Israel local delivery homepage currently has ads for such companies as Crazy Line, 911 Fashion, Style River, Adika, Dynamica, Newpan and Electra.

Last week it was reported that Amazon signed an exclusive delivery agreement with Israel Post, which will apply both to packages sent from Israeli facilities and those sent from abroad.

The deal is expected to provide Israel Post with tens of millions of shekels.

There is no word at this stage, however, about plans for opening an Amazon distribution center in Israel. The Seattle-based retail giant floated the idea back in 2017, engaging in talks for the possible acquisition of warehouse space needed for storing products before they’re shipped to customers in Israel.

Earlier that year, Amazon announced it was opening new offices in Israel for its research and development operations.