Consumer domestic online spending accounts for only 3% of total retail sales
SYDNEY, 20 July 2010 – Australia’s consumer eCommerce market is underdeveloped, lagging both the US and UK markets by approximately three years according to the latest eCommerce analysis issued by consulting company, Frost & Sullivan. Online retail consumer spending in Australia in 2010 is expected to account for approximately five per cent of total retail sales, however if spending on overseas sites is excluded, this drops to around three per cent. In contrast, online as a percentage of total …

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 and how to bring world class best practice to Australian retailers.
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.
In the last six months alone, large Australian retailers such as BigW have extended their presence online, providing a significant boost to the industry. As Australian businesses become increasingly …

Amazon is appearing tight-lipped about it’s latest acquisition, Woot.com.  The announcement was made on Woot’s blog a short time ago.  In typical Woot style, the letter from CEO, Matt Rutledge, says a lot, without really saying anything at all…

SMH has reported shopping centre giant, Westfield, is in the final stages of negotiation to develop an online shopping mall for participating retailers.
It is understood the online mall will be led by fashion, which the company sees as its strongest attraction, and split into categories including electronics and books.

MEDIA RELEASE – Although Australian bricks and mortar retailers have been slow to expand online, they have a distinct advantage over web-only retailers, according to the Executive Director of Salmat Digital, Paul Marshall.

In his presentation to the Online Retailer conference in Sydney today, Paul said that brand awareness, loyalty and an existing customer base are key assets when Bricks and Mortar retailers take their business online. Combine that with the power of the store network to give their customers a true multichannel shopping choice and they have …

Overnight Amazon has announced it’s acquisition of Zappos for around US$920m in stock.  Zappos has built a legendary reputation around customer service and open communication, which is at odds to Amazon’s communication strategy.
The post by Zappos CEO Tony Hsieh is here. In a letter to employees he writes:
We plan to continue to run Zappos the way we have always run Zappos — continuing to do what we believe is best for our brand, our culture, and our business. From a practical point of view, it will be as if …

Patrick Stafford from  Smart Company has reported on eBay Australia’s latest announcement to increase the exposure of “buy it now” listings on ebay.com.au.
From 10 September all store listings will have increased exposure as they will appear within the main eBay search results.  This will provide sellers with increased exposure on search results pages, however eBay is also introducing monthly store fees, ranging from $19.95 to $499 per month.
eBay Australia managing director Deborah Sharkey said that 50 per cent of eBay’s global sales were now fixed price and that, in the …

MIS reports today that the Colorado group is preparing to take the plunge into online retailing again after suspending it’s ecommerce operations a few years ago.
The company upgraded it’s 500 stores to a wide-area network to assist with real-time information transfer between stores.
“Not a week goes by without us receiving emails from people asking when they will be able to buy from us online, so we are very keen to get back into the space,” Ms Ryan, Colorado Group’s chief information officer said.
Read the full article at MIS Australia

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 …

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 …