Here’s a sobering thought if you own a bricks and mortar business: 73 per cent of Australians made a purchase online in 2018.¹ In fact, eCommerce equated to over $27 billion in sales.² While this is still only one-eighth of our total retail sales, small businesses that want to stay ahead of the curve may want to consider developing an eCommerce strategy – and fast!
So how can your business take advantage of Australia’s love of eCommerce? Keeping up to date with the latest developments is the first place to start. Here are the trends you may want to embrace in 2019.
Sales sales sales
2018 was the year of the sale. Sales events such as Click Frenzy, Black Friday and Cyber Monday have long been a staple of the US online shopping calendar. In 2018 Australians really adopted these sales for the first time. The result: Black Friday and Cyber Monday delivered the biggest online shopping week in Australian history.³ Pre-Christmas sales also proved a winning combination for online stores with the five weeks from 11 November to 15 December accounting for almost 15 per cent of all eCommerce transactions.4
Take away: Plan ahead to help take advantage of sales events.
The rise of Buy Now Pay Later
With ‘I want it now’ becoming a common mantra for today’s shoppers, it should come as no surprise that Buy Now Pay Later options such as AfterPay and Zip Money have surged in popularity. Millennials are amongst the fastest adopters of the payment option, which goes hand-in-hand with their passion for online shopping. Australia Post’s Inside Australian Online Shopping 2019 eCommerce Report found 86 per cent of millennials purchase at least monthly.
Take away: Offering alternatives to traditional payment options could see an uplift in sales
Shopping on the go
More and more Australians are shopping whilst on the fly. As such, the demand for retailers to provide a seamless shopping experience, no matter the channel, is increasing. Consumers are browsing for bargains from multiple devices and the rise of mobile shopping is high. In fact, almost three in ten (28.8 per cent) of users now complete their purchases from a mobile device.5
Take away: Make certain your shopping experience is seamless across all channels if you want to help keep customers.
Delivered my way
Customers want their shopping experience to be seamless and that extends to their delivery options. Next-day deliveries have grown by 31.7 per cent in the past year.6 In the fashion sector, that figure doubles to 62 per cent.7 Online shoppers increasingly expect faster service. As more retailers provide faster service, shopper expectations for time and day-specific delivery will become the norm.
Take away: Express delivery is now a must-have not a nice-to-have.
With online purchases growing 13 per cent across all Australian states year on year 8, ignoring these trends could be at your peril.
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This article is provided for general information purposes only and is not intended to be specific advice for your business needs
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