eCorner Boss says Security and Price Comparison Engines Are Key Trends to Exploit
Australia’s geographical isolation represents a lucrative opportunity to offer highly secure online services to nations with poor reputations for security, says eCommerce expert, John Debrincat, a key speaker at next week’s Online Shop 2007 Conference in Melbourne.
The managing director of leading eBusiness solutions provider, eCorner, Mr Debrincat will discuss the latest trends and opportunities for Australian businesses wanting to take advantage of the enormous growth in eCommerce.
“Australian eCommerce currently lags the more mature European and US markets by two to three years and that means we can learn from their mistakes and improve our success rate,” he said.
Mr Debrincat believes ’s low profile and the fact that we have only a few highly secure conduits for online traffic in and out of the country gives us a far greater ability to control and protect users than Europe, North America or parts of
“We have an opportunity to position ourselves as a very secure environment to places like or , which are largely mistrusted by users as being not secure enough. Of course, our ability to capitalise on this window of opportunity will be limited by existing broadband constraints, but I’m hopeful that the current focus on these issues has increased the likelihood that they will be addressed in the short to medium term,” he said.
Highlighting Trends in eCommerce Success
At Online Shop 2007, Mr Debrincat will also discuss the importance of shopping or price comparison engines in driving online sales, pointing to their enormous popularity with shoppers in Europe and the .
“Price comparison engines have been enormously successful elsewhere in the world over the past five years, but are really only just beginning to make their presence felt in ,” he said. “We’re also beginning to see the establishment of portal sites offering a low-cost way for retailers to start selling online or to complement their company website.”
Mr Debrincat said a growing number of retailers, including some high-profile chains, are using eBay and other third-party websites to sell their products, increasing their revenue opportunities with a range of retail channels.
“I think smart companies will increasingly use multiple online channels – such as retail portals, low-cost markets and price comparison engines – to promote their products in an online imitation of the bricks and mortar world where such multi-pronged approaches are enormously successful,” he said.
The Online Shop 2007 Conference is aimed at Australian companies wanting to start selling products online or take their existing e-commerce website to the next level. With Australians spending A$6 billion online last year, of which 85 per cent went to local suppliers, the opportunities afforded by annual growth rates of over 20 per cent are significant.
In addition to providing outstanding opportunities for education and industry networking, Online Shop 2007 will also showcase successful case studies, with presentations from Jonathan Barouch of FastFlowers, James Cassidy of Fairfax Digital (Travel) and Chris Hitchen of Getprice, among others.
’s first shopping comparison site, Getprice provides product and price comparisons for the popular NineMSN website and is gearing up for a major push to drive consumer awareness and increase traffic.
Getprice managing director, Chris Hitchen, said shopping comparison engines offer substantial benefits for merchants because they deliver high returns with a strong focus on transparency and analytics so it’s easy to measure ROI. He said shoppers are looking for much more than the cheapest price.
“Studies in the have shown that shoppers consider a range factors such as brand credibility, product quality, location and perceived value as well as price, and will not always choose the cheapest option on that basis,” Mr Hitchen explained.
“After nearly two years of building infrastructure, developing content and creating a value proposition, we’re starting to see much more interest from retailers, with over 500 companies already working with
The Online Shop 2007 Conference will be held on Wednesday 18 April at the Conference Centre, 1 Spring Street,
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