Amazon App Gets International Shopping Feature to Let Users Import Products from the US

Amazon on Tuesday announced a new feature that enables international users to easily import goods from the US. While a local Amazon app is present in several countries, but it doesn't always let users purchase products outside their home markets - which essentially makes it difficult for people to buy products sold by Amazon in the US. However, with 'International Shopping Experience', Amazon lets users shop products from the US, complete with localised pricing and import fee estimates.

The International Shopping Experience feature is available on the Amazon app in Android and iOS. The Amazon app uses the location to determine whether the feature is necessary in your country. Users can also turn the feature on by themselves and customise the language or currency. At launch, Amazon International Shopping Experience comes with support for five languages - English, Brazilian Portuguese, German, Simplified Chinese, and Spanish - and 25 different currencies.

Amazon has promised a wider currency and language support in 2018. "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," said Samir Kumar, VP of Amazon Exports and Expansion.

In order to use the new International Shopping feature, you will have to download the Amazon Shopping app from the Apple App Store or Google Play Store. Upon installation, the app will automatically go for the feature, based on your location. However, if you already have the app installed, you will have to go to Settings > Country and Language > International Shopping. Further, you can select the language and currency of preference. Once the process is complete, you will be able to see the products that are eligible to be shipped to your selected delivery location.

As per an Engadget report, the feature is currently present in 11 countries, including Chile, Colombia, Costa Rica, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Peru, Thailand, and Uruguay. This essentially means that users in India will not be able to use this feature as Amazon already has a localised app in the country. The International Shopping feature can only be accessed in countries that do not have an official Amazon portal and imports are the only realistic option. However, in India, you can use the Amazon Global Store to order products from abroad.