Online Retail To Grow 40 Percent
The annual Online Retailer Expo & Conference is underway this week with over 3,000 delegates registered to discuss the future of e-commerce in Australia.
The e-commerce industry in Australia has seen rapid growth over the last year and is forecast to reach $AU33.8 billion by 2012 up from $AU24 billion last year, according to a study by Forrester Research that was commissioned by eBay.
The annual Online Retailer Expo & Conference is underway this week with over 3,000 delegates registered to discuss the future of e-commerce in Australia.
The e-commerce industry in Australia has seen rapid growth over the last year and is forecast to reach $AU33.8 billion by 2012 up from $AU24 billion last year, according to a study by Forrester Research that was commissioned by eBay.
In the last six months alone, large Australian retailers such as BigW have extended their presence online. As Australian businesses become increasingly engaged online, the conference will also address the future of mobile. Globally, consumers are expected to spend $119 billion by 2015 through their mobile phones, accounting for about eight percent of all e-commerce activity, making it a valuable channel for retailers.
PayPal Australia is in full support of the conference initiatives but warns that Australian retailers need to take better advantage of the opportunities online in order to fend off increasing competition from overseas.
Frerk-Malte Feller, Managing Director, PayPal, said: “Whilst the Australian eCommerce industry is growing, it is still significantly lagging behind the rest of the world with Australia’s domestic retail spend online half of what it is in countries such as the UK and USA. As Australian retailers struggle to build effective online presence, overseas competitors are taking advantage of the gap in the Australian market and are currently taking around 40 per cent of Australia’s online retail spend.”
Several factors have been responsible for the slower uptake of e-tail amongst Australian consumers. While the cost of shipping, long delivery times and poor selection of items available in online stores have prevented some consumers from shopping online, concerns around the security of transactions remains the number one concern to consumers shopping online today.
Feller continued: “There is a huge opportunity for retailers to capitalise on the growing online marketplace in Australia. In the last six months alone the average consumer spent $1,223 on online shopping, an increase of $130 from the second half of 2009.”
As part of its service, PayPal protects the financial information of over 3 million Australian users to enable them to shop safely and securely online. PayPal allows anyone to pay without ever sharing financial information, enabling retailers to build confidence and trust with their customers.
