Online Retail Industry set to grow 40 per cent by 2012
Online Retail Industry set to grow 40 per cent by 2012
Australia – 7 July, 2010: 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 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.
Mark Harvey, Event Director for Online Retailer, said: “There has been huge interest in the 2010 conference and a clear desire from Australian retailers to build, expand and improve their online offerings both online and increasing on mobile. We are dedicated to helping retailers and e-commerce professionals to grow and shape the future of e-retailing in Australia.”
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 USA3. 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.
According to Feller, the future of Australian e-commerce is incredibly exciting: “We have come a long way in the last few years. PayPal now has over 30,000 active business accounts registered to send and receive money and I expect to see this number grow rapidly over the coming year as more Australian businesses build a presence online. We believe that the future of money is mobile as consumers seek to make payments from any connected device – be it a laptop or mobile phone today or a TV or a refrigerator tomorrow.”
PayPal will be attending Online Retailer between 6th and 9th July 2010.
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