Australia still lacking decent online shopping

[bobo]

I've just been looking for an online store that sells surf and skate clothing and have found nothing and then I broadened my search and just got a lot of sites that have links to stores that sell nothing but generic crap.

It's so frustrating, I gave up. Ebay had a couple of decent things but you'd think in (almost) 2007 we'd have decent online stores like the U.S. They have tons! And you can often buy a lot of stuff direct from the manufacturer, ie: Vans. I think you can buy nike shoes online and Paul's does online sales but why aren't more retailers adding ecommerce to their storefronts? I think it's retarded tbh.

I don't mind going to stores but like the convenience of checking what products are available because I don't like doing what I did tonight which was being in a crowded shopping centre for hours looking at stuff but coming home with very little.

I've bought more stuff from overseas because they have the websites and are cheap enough to make it more worthwhile.

[venus]

Hi Ash

Good piont.

Maybe a lot of successful storefronts haven't the time to take photo's, build a site, maintaining the site, work the Posting and handling at the same time as maintaining the storefront.

[weekf]

The reason is the consumers. Many people in Australia still not very confident buying things through the internet. They'd rather spend few times more paying in the shops. Why? Because of warranty, advices bla bla bla...

I don't get it. Warranty wise, imagine with the same price you paid in the store you could buy a second one, or even a third one over the internet who cares about warranty? If the first one fail, just use the second one fresh out of the box, if it fails again, use the third one. Advices? Just Google whatevery you are looking for on the internet, how easy is that?

Remember, no demand=no supply. If people still willing to continue to pay the same old high price in the shop, who cares setting up internet website to sell at lower price? Afterall there are costs for setting up a website.

[ASA]

The reason is the consumers. Many people in Australia still not very confident buying things through the internet.

I strongly disagree with this point, and the proof is out there to easily dismiss your reasoning.

On a per capita basis, Australia has the fastest take up ratio of every nation worldwide when it comes to Information & Technology. Also, again on a per capita basis, companies such as ebay have far greater turnover here than they do in the United States.

For anyone that watched A Current Affair on Channel 9 this past week they did an expose on the new breed ot business tycoons out there, and guess what, 90% of them were involved in some way with e-commerce, the best example is the 2 young guys that started up http://www.dealsdirect.com.au They only started in business 6-7 years ago as an ebay power seller, and now they are in the big leagues in regards to sales figures with the likes of Myer & DJ's.

99% of most online retailers offer many means of payment, from Credit Cards to EFT/Direct Deposit, heck you can even do your ordering online and pick it up yourself and pay in person.

They'd rather spend few times more paying in the shops. Why? Because of warranty, advices bla bla bla...

Every product we sell, and the same goes for most of the other online retailers in Aus like Ben from Age Of Aquariums, offer full warranty support on everything we sell (some exceptions apply such as light bulbs, clearance stock etc etc).

As for advice, on average we receive 10-20 phone calls a day in the shop, and would reply to at least 20-30 emails per day regarding product questions and advice.


There are other reasons why there arent a lot more ecommerce operators around, probably the biggest issue is grumpy old fashioned business executives who believe the internet is evil. It makes it hard when you get suppliers who like to live in the dark ages.

If you knew the hoops we have to jump through to provide customers with quality products you would then probably understand why there arent so many operators out there. It is actually quite amusing some of the excuses suppliers make up to try and stop the OLS getting there products... you would almost think they didnt want to make any money.

oh, for the record, 73% of all aquarium equipment related sales in 2005 in the United States was done online or by one of the 3 big chain stores... They expect 2006 to be close to 85-88%.

[bobo]

Hi Ash

Good piont.

Maybe a lot of successful storefronts haven't the time to take photo's, build a site, maintaining the site, work the Posting and handling at the same time as maintaining the storefront.

It probably comes down to the small population of Australia not making it worthwhile and the competition with ebay traders may be a factor but I've thought for the last several years in general that Australia just doesn't compete with the USA and other countries on having a good variety of quality websites.

Weekf, as long as you buy from a reputable dealer and know where they're located, claiming warranty isn't a problem so this shouldn't dissuade people from buying online.

Funnily enough there are plenty of good online aquarium stores but not enough for clothing and accessories among other things.

What do you mean "fastest take up ratio" ASA?
Dealsdirect sucks hard IMO. Good for the owners but there's nothing desirable for me on there. Quite frankly I couldn't care less about Aussies being successful at ecommerce. Unless they're selling stuff I want it's irrelevant to me.

[ASA]

What do you mean "fastest take up ratio" ASA?

This is where we buy new gadgets, or participate in online activities such as ebay, etc etc. i.e. based on a per capita basis, when a new IT related product is released, say a mobile phone, laptop, anything to do with technology we have a habit of snapping things up. Using ebay and Google as examples, 6 in 10 are likely to use these services in Australia, Japan has a ratio of 5 in 10, the U.S. & some parts of Europe, 3.5 in 10. I think it was published in The Bulletin or Financial Review several months ago.

[weekf]

So many years have passed since the last post on this thread, oh mine how different the world has changed! Online buying is the way to go nowadays haha!