Australian retailers trying to reach and retain consumers online will underperform if they fail to learn from the mistakes made by their counterparts in the US, according to the Paul Marshall, executive director of Salmat DigitalForce.
Speaking at the Retail World Summit in Sydney, Marshall warned that retailers risk losing market share if they do not synchronise their strategies across different channels – otherwise known as cross-channel retailing.
“The internet has opened up a whole new channel for retailers to reach consumers, however, it’s critical that a retailer’s ecommerce business is not set up as a siloed operation.
“In the US, major retailers made the mistake of establishing their online business as a separate operation to their bricks and mortar stores, with different strategies, management and P&L statements. This gave rise to numerous customer service problems,” he said.
Read the full article at eTailToday.com.au
CRN today reported Aussie manufacturer and online retailer of consumer electronics, Kogan, is opening a US warehouse which will pave the way for the company’s global expansion.
Kogan’s Australian head office will manage the Kentucky-based warehouse and products manufactured in China will be shipped directly to the US.
Ruslan Kogan founder and CEO said the company is in the final stages of opening the US branch after three years of growth in Australia.
He said the US market is 20 times bigger than the Australian market and shoppers purchase online there, which directly fits with Kogan’s direct online sales model.
“Our buying power will increase and products will become cheaper for everyone especially our Australian customers who will then benefit.”
Read the full article at CRN
RetailBiz has reported on the latest ecommerce benchmark figures from Coremetrics.
According to Coremetrics, which surveyed the buying habits of more than 75 million shoppers worldwide, Australian and New Zealand shoppers are returning to the world wide web in droves to peruse global e-commerce websites and make online purchases.
Since the global economic downturn, consumers have been naturally careful about their spending habits but it seems that online opportunities are proving too good to pass.
“These figures represent a smarter modern shopper; one that takes time to visit e-commerce sites all over the world before deciding on a purchase. ANZ consumers are becoming more e-commerce savvy; they’re enjoying perusing the breadth of products and services available over the internet and take advantage of online discounts and special offers unavailable in-store.”
Read the full article at RetailBiz.
Overstock.com, Inc. today announced its launch of international sales to customers in Australia, Hong Kong, and Singapore. This announcement now brings to 37 the total number of countries in which Overstock is selling products to customers.
These International shoppers can now search, browse and purchase over 600,000 quality discount products, all priced in local currency, from the company’s website: http://www.overstock.com.
“International markets are underserved by online retail,” said Patrick Byrne, Overstock.com chairman and CEO. “With the weakness of the dollar the time has never been better for international customers to buy bargain American goods, creating a great opportunity for us.”
Read more…
The Courier Mail reports Intabill has been slapped with a $52 million lawsuit by Kolyma Corporation AVV, an online gambling firm associated with Full Tilt Poker.
The action is a result of a failure of Intabill to pass on payments, Kolyma has stated; the company is seeking payment of $43 million plus interest (going back to May 25).
US internet social networking giant MySpace plans to cut 500 jobs, nearly 30 per cent of its US staff, in a restructuring aimed at boosting efficiency.
MySpace, a unit of media magnate Rupert Murdoch’s News Corporation, said it was cutting payrolls “as part of a plan to restructure itself into a more innovative, efficient, and entrepreneurial business”.
The restructuring plan affects all US divisions of the company and the round of job cuts will lower the domestic workforce to 1,000 employees, it said in a statement.
Read more…
In an interview with eTailToday.com.au, dStore’s CEO Andrew Cooper announced they will open their first bricks and mortar store in Brisbane before Christmas.
“It will be a test of the multichannel shopper theory and will be more of a destination where you can pick up a product you’ve ordered online, make a return or buy the product you saw available online,” Cooper said.
“People shop online, they research online, they shop offline and sometimes they research offline and then go and buy online. What we’re providing is an additional channel for customers.
Read more…