Australia's major retailers are struggling to keep up with Amazon's discounted prices

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• New research from Morgan Stanley shows the price discount between Amazon and major Australian retailers is getting larger for many goods 
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• With Amazon set to launch its “Prime” offering in Australia later this year, the bank says retailers will need to lower prices and invest in improving delivery services
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• Heavy price discounting in the retail sector could delay when the RBA begins to lift interest rates
• Showpo has definitely been making waves in international waters lately, with further expansion planned for the US market, and now the future is seeming even brighter due to a rumoured partnership with Amazon US.
  That's right, negotiations are reportedly underway between the two retailers to create a partnership that could see Showpo featured on Amazon's fashion pages.
  According to Inside Retail, Amazon is quite keen on the idea of joining forces with the Australian online fashion giant. Given Showpo's growth over the last few years, we're not surprised Amazon's sights are set on bringing the brand on board as a marketplace seller.
  The offer, as it stands, is for Showpo to come on board as part of Amazon's Fulfilment By Amazon (FBA) program. The program would see over 1,000 products come under the Amazon banner to be sold and shipped as part of the US Amazon Prime service.
  Showpo's operations manager Paul Waddy spoke at the Retail Fulfilment Summit in Melbourne about chances of the partnership coming to be, saying, “Amazon in the US is quite keen to have Showpo come onboard, and we’re considering it.”
  “It’s quite attractive on paper, the rates they are doing at FBA are not achievable by anyone else, certainly not in Australia,” he said. “They fulfil in two days by road at ridiculous prices, they’ll do pick-pack and delivery for the price that some warehouses charge for pick-pack – it’s incredible.”
  The stumbling block for Showpo will be whether or not Amazon's deal is lucrative enough to come on board with. Having such demonstrable success as a singular e-commerce provider, Inside Retail states that Showpo is already attributing 30 percent of its revenue to international customers.
  However, for Australian customers it will be longer to wait before any such deal arrives here, with Amazon Prime still not introduced thanks to the scale of delivery costs in Australia. But we can still shop at Showpo and get free express delivery on orders over $50 – so we're not too upset.