With almost 65% of Australians purchasing products online in 2016, the country is almost there to be included among the list of nationalities that spend most on ecommerce. This year, Australia’s total online sales is expected to grow to a whopping $32 billion with an expected rise of 21%.
The future of Australian ecommerce industry is all fired up; much credits to the rise of Internet usage, mobile devices, and of course the country’s overall economy. About 85% of Australians have internet access and at present, there are over 19.4 million mobile phone users in the Kangaroo region.
Australia is poised to be one of the trendsetters of ecommerce in its region and keeping this assumption in mind, let’s cover some of the top trends that are expected to rule Australian ecommerce fraternity.
Shopping Via Mobile
According to a study by the interactive advertising bureau of Australia, 45% of the respondents said they purchased a product via smartphone or tablet. This pretty much explains the mobile ecommerce scenario of Australia.
It is safe to say that mobile platform is enroute to becoming a dedicated way of shopping online in near future; and, given its rising usage, it is expected to be one of the top reasons behind skyrocketing ecommerce sales in Australia. In comparison with desktops, mobile platforms offer a smooth experience along with easy accessibility. Users find it easier to compare prices and products on the go.
Moreover, most online stores are designed for customers of all ages—millennials to oldies—everyone can do the browsing and click that Buy button on their handhelds.
Buying Internationally
According to a study, 63% of customers in Australia shop across the national borders, ranking them the first in the world.
Even though Australian market is full of local ecommerce giants, but customers in the country are equally involved in business with players of the international market such as the US, China, etc. However, this doesn’t undermine the quality of goods being sold locally, but it’s rather about the wider range of choices to pick from.
To put it in simpler words, customers in Australia are keen toward exploring unique options across the global web.
Ship With A Click
If you weren’t born in the recent past, you’d know that it used to take at least two working days for an order to get delivered, but things have changed. Now the average shipping time has come down to a single day or in some cases, same day delivery as well. However, with the rapid evolution of shipping methods, there still lies a wide gap in the delivery business.
Companies are still in the phase of developing faster shipping methods. Consider the example of drone delivery, the online retail giant Amazon is working to roll out its fastest delivery service, via drone, across its hometown.
Live Human Interactive Chat
Bots are trendy these days but when it comes to online shopping, a customer wants to hear from a human. About 88% of people say live chat enhances the online shopping experience and the human psyche is expected to be the reason why live chats will trend in Australia.
According to customer’s’ perspective, another big plus of live chat is time saving and satisfactory talk. With live chat, a customer can put in his queries and receive answers in real time.
Moreover, online shoppers are generally not the most patient customers you will find. They expect answers in real time while they go through your online store. In Australia, it is least likely that you’ll find ecommerce store without live chat feature.
Special Days To Shop
All across the globe, some days are celebrated by shopping really hard. Similarly, in the Kangaroo land, Click Frenzy is a major shopping day along with other international shopping occasions such as Black Friday, Cyber Monday, etc.
Popularity of these international days is expected to grow at an exponential pace and industry experts speculate more of such calendar events in future. This only goes on to project the strength of upcoming Australian ecommerce industry.
Since Aussies are people who love to celebrate festivals and occasions, these dedicated days of discounts and sales are poised to rake in more and more online sales.
Ecommerce—The Future Of Shopping
Considering that retail outlets are moving online around the world and blue chip brands such as Samsung, Olympus, Nike, Zara, are opting for online stores, ecommerce is next big deal in the consumer industry; for Australia as well as the international market.
In Australia, various ecommerce improvisations are already in the funnel to take online shopping experience on a whole new level. Australia-based ecommerce stores such as Catch.com.au have already tapped on the opportunity to cater customers in the region and there are many more local players like it.