In November 2019, Amazon began offering free shipping to Israel of thousands of products with a minimum order of $49, setting off nothing less than a consumer revolution overnight.
Free shipping was a promotion it could cancel at any time, Amazon had said at the time. But Israelis got used to it very quickly.
The shopping frenzy ended as abruptly as it started in March 2020, when Amazon was forced to cancel the free shipping due to global uncertainty created by the coronavirus pandemic. Amazon was also frustrated by the Israel Postal Company and private delivery companies, which were having trouble keeping up with the massive shipping volume.
Deliveries to Israel were canceled completely during the early days of the pandemic. Last June, sales to Israel were restored, but with longer and more expensive shipping options.
Shipping times to Israel have recently improved to pre-pandemic levels, sparking some new interest, according to Amazon shoppers in the Facebook groups. But for many products, the price of shipping cancels out any savings over local prices.
It has long been common for olim (immigrants to Israel) to order online and have the packages sent to a relative abroad and be picked up or delivered on an upcoming visit. Free delivery to homes in Israel exposed many Israelis to an ease of shopping they had only dreamed of.
Amazon had made its interest in the Israel market known before the free-shipping campaign. It launched its Hebrew site in August 2019 and began selling local products in cooperation with Israeli vendors.
There had been talk of Amazon building a fulfillment center in Israel, but that doesn’t seem likely. A report in December indicated that Amazon was considering using its warehouses in the United Arab Emirates to ship products to Israel more efficiently.