Wish List

Australian users of Christmas gift wish list and shoppers may end up seeing internet retailer Amazon set up a domestic Australian operation as the online behemoth prepares for a fresh assault on global markets.

Amazon is fighting multiple battles in different areas as it wages war against Apple, eBay and Google, ramping up consumer offering in e-readers, tablets, retailing and cloud computing.

The companies web services unit is soon to begin operating from an Australian based data centre as it seeks to meet the needs of its enterprise clients.

Amazon began online retailing in 1995 and has embarked on a strategy of entering different domestic markets internationally, after establishing a presence in Italy last year. The company currently sells directly to customers in China, Japan, Britain, the US, Canada, Germany, Austria and France.

Currently Australian consumers who shop at an international Amazon site must pay extra for international shipping, though with the strong local currency, this has not proven to be much of an issue.

On whether an Australian version of the retailer would be available soon, the company’s CTO Werner Vogels said “For a very long time we actually halted our international roll out. And we just started again with Amazon Italy and again, just like with the web services, we are evaluating what will be the next places to start rolling this out.

“Given that we recently rolled out Amazon Italy it is clear that we are continuing to look at (the) rollout (of) other locations that might be beneficial for our retail operation.

“And I think every country in the world is probably on that shortlist,” Mr Vogels said in an interview in Sydney.

Mr Vogels declined to say what criteria Amazon.com based its selection process on.

A glitch at the online store of Dick Smith in New Zealand allowed shoppers to pick up electronic bargains at no cost.

The error forced the retailer to temporarily take down its online shopping platform in New Zealand when it emerged that shoppers were able to buy stuff for no cost with the exception of postage and handling.

Only Dick Smith’s New Zealand online retail site seemed to be affected, with the Australian site seeming to be continuing as normal, though without any super sale prices.

Signalling just how much the world has changed, Dick Smith was tipped off by social networking site twitter, with the retailer citing that it was undergoing maintenance.

According to technology blogs in New Zealand, the site has been experiencing problems for many weeks now, with one customer reporting that after purchasing an iPhone and a 40 inch television, they were charged merely the NZ$4.95 postage fee to their credit card.

It seems highly unlikely that online shoppers or Christmas gift wish list users will be able to keep hold of stuff they got free of charge, with the retailer taking to twitter to respond.

“As some of you would have seen there was a technical issue with pricing on our website. We are working to have correct pricing restored,” the company tweeted this morning.

“For orders placed we will be in contact with you to confirm cancellation or whether you would like the items at their correct pricing.”

Dick Smith NZ were able to see the lighter side of the glitch, also tweeting: “Wow, 1000th Tweet for us … not how we wanted to start the week off!! Mondays are hard enough as it is!”

Online shoppers have the ability to make a difference by buying fair trade products.

Shionagh Goold online store manager for Biome says that by undertaking small changes to their shopping habits, consumers could provide great benefit to the environment.

According to Ms. Goold, eco shopping was simply about being both responsible and aware of the environmental issues associated with the manufacture of various products.

Ms Goold urged shoppers to “think about everything you use” and question how it would affect their health and the environment.

“By buying eco-friendly you are making a choice,” Ms Goold said.

She said you were choosing not to contribute to global environmental problems, including pollution and landfill issues, habitat destruction and carbon emissions.

The purchase of fair trade products was another easy way for people to make difference. Fair Trade products are items with a labeling, confirming that the labour involved in the production of the item is being paid a fair wage. Usually items imported from developing nation where typically poverty stricken workers are exploited by their employers.

Natalie Dillon, owner of Australian ethical and organic clothing company 3Fish, said if consumers wanted to make a difference the “options were there”.
“Wherever there’s a Fair Trade option it really is a no-brainer,” Ms Dillon said.

She said whether buying apples, coffee or chocolate, Aussies had the opportunity to make more ethical decisions in their everyday purchases.
“On this side of the world we can effect so much change,” Ms Dillon said.

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The threat posed by and internet based shopping to Australian retailers has been around for a long time, in fact it is almost a decade old, however the difference is for the retailers, is the threat is now existential.

A number of factors are behind this, including greater choice from international websites, a strong Australian dollar, increased broadband penetration, the relative comfort of shopping from home and cheaper products all contribute to consumers increasingly migrating to online shopping for christmas gift ideas Australia

The categories that face the biggest threat are electronics, books, cosmetics, clothing, footwear and department stores, and as a result unsurprisingly retailers such as Harvey Norman and David Jones have seen their stocks taking a beating on the ASX.

According to recent data, historically domestic Australian online sales have grown anywhere between 5 to 10 per cent per annum, contrastingly international online sales have been growing at a torrid 20-25% a year.

The brutal reality is a lot of online sales go undetected. Any items purchased overseas worth less than $1000 go unmeasured and unreported. Which explains why Harvey Norman and Myer led the charge by retailers to lobby against the tax loophole allowing consumers to import products valued as under $1,000 without having to pay either import duties or GST.

The campaign failed to gain sympathy with the public or garner political support and both companies have since announced they will set up Asian websites.

As the internet becomes ubiquitous, so to will the practice of shopping online, Australia remains a few years behind the UK and the US, which suggests that retailers in the country face a very difficult road ahead. Even when Australian retailers go online, the problem they face is they aren’t competitive in terms of range of products and price.

Part of the problem is high labour costs in Australia, relatively higher rental costs and fatter margins. As JPMorgan raised in a note a few months ago: “We suggest that the price differential of goods sold in Australia relative to other major economies (such as the US and UK) is a reflection of more structural factors, namely: higher rental costs in Australia, higher wage costs in Australia, greater levels of competition in foreign markets, larger foreign retailers with greater purchasing scale.”

It is hard to argue with that, but it doesn’t bode well for the retailers’ future.

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Australian retail chains are increasingly becoming aware of the growing demand by consumers for internet shopping options, with competition intensifying between market participants all of whom are seeking to transform themselves into the dominant online shopping offering.

According to industry estimates the Australian online retailing industry is currently valued at $30 billion, a figure which is expected to grow by 20 per cent to $36 billion by the year 2013.

Online shopping is a $30 billion industry in Australia and is expected to grow to $36 billion by 2013, according to industry estimates.

Last week brick and mortar retailers gathered together with internet sellers as they sought to gain insight on the future of retailing.

eBay, the online auction site says it wants to be the go to site for consumers who want to browse online, in the same way shoppers do at physical malls.

“Think of us as an online shopping mall. In the offline world Myer partners with Westfield, in the online world – with six million Australians visiting eBay every month – we’re aggregating shoppers. We’re investing in traffic so that our supply partners don’t have to.” eBay vice-president Deborah Sharkey told AAP.

Ms Sharkey added that a number of large Australian retailers were using eBay as a platform to set up their own store.

“Increasingly, traditional retailers and manufacturers, the likes of Dell, Cellarmasters, ABC Shop, Optus and so on are leveraging eBay as a cost-effective sales channel.”

Westfield Group, which owns shopping centres and for a long time has been the traditional provider of the brick and mortar setting for consumers now wants to add a digital aspect to its business.

“The better a retailer’s online presence, the better a shopper can find that retailer and their products in multiple environments, then the better the overall retailer goes,” Westfield director of business development Michelle Vanzella said.

The company recently rolled out a transactional online shopping offering which provides goods from over 130 retail stores. The retail property giant says it believes the best strategy is one that combines both digital and conventional retailing.

If you like shopping over the internet, why not set up an online wishlist on a tool like boxedup.com. Its completely free, and you can save any item you see online to your wishlist with a single click, allowing you quick access to the item at a later date. Even better still, you can share your online wishlist with friends and family ensuring you never again receive the same gift twice, or that pair of socks you will never wear.

New research suggests that Australian small and medium enterprises are increasingly being left behind when it comes to making use of the internet for sales, marketing and advertising.

The study undertake by market research firm Sensis suggests that only 17 per cent of Australian SME’s have a digital strategy, with as much as 40 per cent of them lacking a website, and only 14 per cent maintaining a presence on social media.

Sensis’s Kim Van Prooyen said many small businesses knew that they should be getting involved in digital marketing but were confused about how to start.

“From online shopping to consumer reviews, the digital world presents huge opportunities for businesses of all sizes, yet it is a complex landscape which presents something of a digital dilemma for many SMEs. They want to embrace this new world but understandably in many instances they just aren’t sure how to tackle it,” she said.

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Research conducted collaboratively by the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS) and Google suggests that online shopping in Australia is poised for explosive growth this years as shoppers increasingly demand multichannel sales points.

The Global Retail Insights report suggests that mobile-accessible and online sales channels will be the primary growth areas for businesses, who will need to meet technological challenges in order to provide such services.

Over 17 percent of Google retail searches during the retail period in the run up to Christmas last year occurred on a mobile device. Online catalogue aggregator Lasoo saw a jump of more than 1500 percent in mobile searches via its iPhone app in the same period.

The data also suggests that while Australian shoppers did browse international retail sites, more than two-thirds of them felt more comfortable shopping domestically—Australian retailers just needed to make online shopping more convenient.

If you do a lot of shopping over the internet, why not set up an online wishlist on a tool like boxedup.com. Its free, and you can save any item you see online to your wishlist with a single click, allowing you quick access to the item at a later date. Even better still, you can share your online wishlist with friends and family ensuring you never again receive the same gift twice, or that pair of socks you will never wear.

The results of a new study conducted by market research firm Colmar Brunton suggest that Australian consumers are growing increasingly frustrated with their limited options for shopping online with Australian retailers and are increasingly choosing to spend their money internationally with global companies. With 2 in 5 Australians believing that the country is behind the rest of the world when it comes to online retailing.

40 percent of Australians now conduct a large proportion amount of their shopping in the digital world.

“Many Australian retailers stayed away from online following the dotcom crash, while global competitors spotted opportunities. We’re now playing catch-up,” says Dr Steve Nuttall, Managing Director of Colmar Brunton Sydney.

“This is no longer about competing just on our turf. Global retailers are penetrating our borders without building a single store here. Australian retailers have had a view that the name of the game is bricks and mortar but while they have been focusing on this, other e-tailers are focusing on building trust with consumers .It’s not just about being price-competitive. Choice and convenience are huge drivers for consumers”

“This just highlights how out of touch Australian retailers are with consumers who expect our leading brands to have a fully fledged e-tailing offer. But all too often, the value proposition isn’t there.” says Nuttall.

• 85 percent of consumers say they shop online purely because of convenience.
• 49 percent cited it also allowed them to avoid parking, traffic and shopping queues which come with Christmas shopping experience.
• 66 percent of consumers think you usually get a better deal online
• 54 percent believe there is greater choice online compared to in-store
• 86 percent saying they will only shop from trusted websites
• 57 percent concerned about product quality
• 55 percent saying it is hard to get a refund.

If you are one of those who prefer to do their shopping online, then online wish lists like boxedup.com are a great way to organize your shopping. Accounts are free to set up, and you can share your wish lists with friends and family ensuring you never receive the same gift twice or get another gift you will never use. Every time you see something you like online you can save it to your wish list with a single click and that will allow you to access any product on your wish list very easily.

Experts believe that as superfast internet connectivity is rolled out in the UK and Australia, online shopping sites which provide goods for parcel delivery to customers could ultimately become the biggest retail platform.

According to Jonathan Bowers of hosting company UKFast, the ability of consumers to obtain high speed internet access will mean that businesses will be able to build better relationships with their customers, because of the speed at which pages could be served.

“A combination of super-fast broadband and speed of delivery from businesses is definitely going to make a big difference and can probably make the internet the biggest retail platform in the UK,” Mr. Bowers said.

If you do a lot of shopping online, then using an online wish list tool like boxedup.com is a great way to keep track of everything you want, when you see something you like you can save it to your wish list with a single click, recording all the relevant information, including cost and where you saw it. You can also share your wish list with friends and family ensuring you never again receive the same gift twice or receive something you do will not use. If you haven’t already, sign up for an account today, it’s completely free of charge.



E-Commerce experts say they expect that consumers will begin to demand a more unified shopping experience which will be a combination of a safer online shopping experience with the instantaneous nature of in store or high street shopping.

This type of shop known as a “mashop” is expected to develop in response to the rising trend of consumers using smartphones in order to check product information and prices online whilst they are present in brick and mortar stores.

As a result, research firm The Interactive Media in Retail Group believes that retailers will have to adapt their business model to the trend and add features usually associates with online shopping sites, to their brick and mortar outlets.

According to the results of a survey conducted by networking equipment manufacturer Cisco, which polled 1000 consumers, nearly 54 per cent of respondents said they would be in favour of mashops, which combine m-commerce, e-commerce and traditional high street retail.

When the respondents were asked what kind of form such an experience might take, 73 per cent of those polled said they would expected it to be with a touchscreen device located next to the shelves, which would enable them to carry out product research.

The only issue with this kind of vision is that an in store device provided by the retailer could well end up being biased, and consumers may prefer to use their own devices using m-commerce tools which guarantee a degree of impartiality.

If you do happen to do a lot of online shopping, then using an online wish list tool like boxed-up is a great way to compare prices by saving items to a list and accessing products with a single click. If you haven’t already sign up for an account today, it’s free.