The much anticipated opening of Amazon’s dedicated Irish platform will be welcomed by most online shoppers in Ireland, with the site promising more choice, faster delivery and better value to Irish consumers.

Since Amazon started selling books from its fabled Seattle garage more than 25 years ago, people in the Republic have routinely been diverted either to its .com or .co.uk sites, where they might be forgiven for thinking they were nothing more than an afterthought for the retail giant.

In the pre-Brexit era that wasn’t such a big deal – infuriating currency confusion and the refusal of some British retailers to deliver to the Republic aside.

However since Britain left the European Union (EU), shopping on .co.uk sites has become more problematic with a growing number of products no longer available to Irish customers and others having sometimes swingeing levels of duty added after purchase by retailers unaccustomed to dealing with the tax implications of the new world order.

Amazon sells a huge volume of products via its own distribution centres but it also serves as a platform for other sellers. Many UK-based websites who use its services decided not to sell into the Republic because the paperwork was too much hassle thanks to Brexit.

With the launch of the .ie site, those problems disappear and Irish shoppers are promised easier access to hundreds of millions of products faster and cheaper.

[ Amazon.ie opens for business as a dedicated website for Irish shoppersOpens in new window ]

The Prime service, which facilitates quicker deliveries and offers access to its streaming service and special sales events for a monthly fee of €6.99, is also good news as is the launch of the “brands of Ireland” section.

That should help some local businesses leverage Amazon’s enormous power to reach a wider audience.

However, it is not, as the Taoiseach Micheál Martin suggested, “good news for all”.

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While some small and medium-sized businesses using the platform will benefit from Amazon’s enormous power, others will have to go toe-to-toe with Amazon and compete directly with it for a share of Irish consumer spending.

That will be a challenge some will rise to. Others will, inevitably, struggle. Some will go out of business.

For consumers, there will be more choices to make and they must be made with eyes wide open.

Recent research from Wolfgang Digital suggests that Amazon already takes in between €1.5 billion to €2 billion from Irish shoppers. Up to 12 per cent of all online spending in Ireland is flowing through the site. With a dedicated local presence, the figure is expected to climb.

The prices for many popular products are broadly similar on the UK and Irish sites. The Amazon fire stick which retails in the UK for £40.98 is on sale on the Irish site for €47.63 (£40.09).

The most up-to-date Kindle reader which sells in the UK for £93.57 can be bought on the Irish site for €113.13 (£95.22). A pair of Sony noise-cancelling headphones which retail on the .co.uk site for £131.08 sell for €142.58 (£120). A Ninja Air Fryer which costs UK shoppers £169.99 costs shoppers on the new Irish website €207.85 (£174.94).

That is not, however, the full story. After proceeding to the checkout on the UK site and when all the customs and other charges were added to the total and converted to euro, it came it at €558.42 compared to €511.19 when bought off the .ie site.

The delivery dates also work in the .ie domain’s favour and users of that platform can expect to have them on Thursday while it will take until Saturday for at least some of the products to arrive if bought on the .co.uk platform. Delivery is free when bought on either platform.

Many – but not all – products will be available for less on Amazon.ie than in other retailers and the choices will be vast. But consumers will have decisions to make: shopping exclusively with Amazon at the expense of local retailers will be as perilous as it is foolhardy.

Amazon.ie should be welcomed into the Irish retail mix but if the online giant ultimately sounds the death knell for many small and medium-sized Irish retailers who are the lifeblood of communities nationwide, will all end up the poorer.