Driving Business Online Wed 15 August 2012 Canberra Online Business in Australia (PayPal Market Research)

Topics covered PayPal does extensive market research on Australian (and global) e-Commerce trends: 140,000 businesses in Australia accept PayPal PayPal small business assistance: – setting up payment systems for new online business (60%) – Existing sites – driving further growth (40%) – Already selling (10%, included in above) – National seminars: 6 regional locations including Canberra

Businesses Represented Flying Solo – Australian Micro-business online “community” Shopping.com – Shopping comparison website Redlaser – Barcode scanner Magenta – e-Commerce “platform for growth” – Initial setup for business websites Noni and Yu – Fashion for women, 30+

Online Opportunities 8 in 10 Australians were online in 2011 – 14.4 million Australians – Up from 6 in 10 – 2009 – Most are online every day – 2/3 shop online This makes 9.9 million online shoppers in Australia – Rural areas have more online shoppers per head of population than cities (surprising result?)

Retail Online In Australia, online retail is still growing – $27billion in 2011 (11% of retail sales) – Projected $35billion in 2013 – Growth of 10-15% over the next 3 years In the USA, online retail is levelling off – Market saturation – Mature market – Global Financial Crisis

The greatest consumer concern is: Trust Security of personal details from Online / credit card fraud For most consumers, more important than price Physical security problems are mainly solved, if dealing with known and reputable businesses – This is a problem however for new businesses that are not yet known Online businesses must actively develop a reputation for: – Security and safety – Reliability, especially in warranty and returns

Australians buy Australian Australians have a strong local preference – Will pay more for Australian products online – BUT within reason! (10-15%) Price still matters – At 30% to 40% cheaper, Australians buy offshore

Customer complaints about online purchasing Availability is also important – Vital to have a good range of products online – Be able to ship those products you advertise Delays: – prevent repeat custom – lead to demands for refund – Don’t let the customer regret their impulse purchase! Unclear rights / lack of legal protections – Reliability and safety are big selling points for Australian online businesses – Coverage of Australian consumer law

Multi-Channel Marketing Use ALL channels (Omni-channel) – Retail shop – Website, Social networks – Smartphone (web), Telephone sales (voice call) Consumers use websites to: – Browse, Compare, Try, Buy Each of the above steps should drive the next one – Encourage customer to make the purchase immediately – Each channel should link with / promote the alternative channels

Connected Devices Australians are the world’s fastest adopters of smartphones: – 52% of phones in 2011 – 58% use their smartphone every day in a given week – 28% have made 1+ purchases via smartphone Users have a number of devices and switch during the day – iPhones (smartphones generally) and Tablets in “lean back” engagement: relaxation, entertainment, reading, passive enjoyment eg iPads tend to be used between 7pm-9pm – Laptops, desktop computers in “lean forward” uses: Processor-intensive work across software platforms, eg research, media editing, secure applications eg financial transactions, games

Coming Trends TV commerce – Purchase straight from TV – Connected direct via PayPal (or other provider) Research for Ericsson projections for 2020: – 8 billion people on Earth – 50 billion connected “smart” devices

Customers Try in Retail Stores, then Buy Online Pointless trying to “police” this – Customers will be turned off, and your competitor gains your business Get in-store customers to visit the website – They could make their purchase there – Make it an easy decision for them to buy now Online discounts, special social media offers USA (2011) – 50% of all retail sales are through some kind of multi- channel experience

Web Business Needs Best practice guidance on: – How to get started online – Checkout, billing and payment – Growing an existing online business Webinar (web seminar) – on Getting Noticed Online – 10am Wed 22 August