Retail industry at critical juncture as ecommerce goes from strength to strength

The Australian and New Zealand Online Shopping Report recently found that Aussies will spend almost 18% more online in 2012 than they did last year. That percentage represents a staggering increased annual spend of $16 billion – evidence that the modern online store is becoming more and more popular among consumers who are more concerned than ever about getting the best value for money they possibly can.

The report found that more than half of Australians and New Zealanders over the age of 15 are using the web to browse, compare and buy products and services. It found the most popular items remained the same: Electrical appliances, clothing, shoes and personal accessories. The food and groceries area, though, has had a 6% increase in online purchases as shoppers become more confident about (and trustworthy of) the online store.

With online spending on the rise and increasing numbers of Australasian consumers becoming comfortable using the web to find products and services, the retail industry faces a time of major upheaval – and must adapt quickly in order to effectively cater to increasingly tech-savvy consumers.

Gone are the days when simply opening more and more physical stores equalled corresponding increases in turnover and profit. In fact, many modern businesses are coming to realise that traditional bricks-and-mortar outlets can in fact represent little more than a liability and a risk to both their profitability and longevity.

There’s no denying that online shopping is, year-by-year, becoming accepted by the mainstream and will gradually put virtually every business without an online presence permanently in the shade. The same can be said of the mobile side of ecommerce website design.

And while the number of people using the web to make purchases continues to grow, the proportion of those people using mobile devices as their primary way of browsing and buying is also on the rise.

Having a professional mobile online presence is becoming more and more vital to creating a successful, sustainable and profitable ecommerce website. Those businesses serious about carving a niche for themselves and making the most of the growing number of online shoppers must approach their online presence as something more than just a way to digitally complement their traditional bricks-and-mortar outlets. The ecommerce industry is a world all of its own. Businesses must observe the paradigm shift happening in Australasia (and the rest of the world) and react to it using tech-savvy forward thinking.