Big opportunities for online retail

Now more than ever Australians are going online to shop and it is important to consider your offering.

A recent study on Australian shopper behaviour highlights Australian consumers are frustrated with the limited online shopping options from national retailers.

More than half those who participated said they are forced to spend their money offshore with global competitors.  

Colmar Brunton Sydney managing director Steve Nuttall said the study also highlighted a belief that all big retailers have online stores when infact several cited had no online presence at all.

“The reality is that there are many low cost marketing opportunities. There has been a demand shift that is being driven by consumer behaviour and it presents an opportunity for smaller and medium sized businesses to respond.

“The successful brands make the customer experience engaging. Design, usability and testing is critical. You have to get it right the first time because the use of social media means that word of mouth spreads really quickly.

“Your brand can be trashed and it can be hard to rebuild your reputation online.”

The biggest barriers stopping people from spending online continue to be focused around security and post-sale customer service with 86% saying they will only shop from trusted websites, 57% were concerned about product quality and 55% believe it is hard to get a refund.

On the plus side 85% of consumers said they shop online because of convenience, 66% think they are getting a better deal and 49% are avoiding parking, traffic and shopping queues.

The study was conducted on Colmar Brunton’s online panel from 16 to 22 December 2011 with 1,022 people taking part.