August 28, 2009
By the ZippyCart Shopping Carts Content Team
Ecommerce companies in Australia have historically trailed behind other tech savvy countries like the US and UK. This has caused a lack of well established ecommerce firms which has led to many global sites gaining history and trust with Australian consumers when it comes to online shopping. According to Forrester Research, Australian shoppers spent $23 billion on online goods in 2008, which on the surface seems very impressive. However a report conducted by the Australian Payment Clearing Association (APCA) revealed that only a mere 57% of total ecommerce spend was with local companies during December 2008. This is surprising that during one of the busiest shopping months of the year 43% of online retail spending occurred with ecommerce firms located outside of Australia. Therefore it is vital that Australian retailers step up their online game to put them on par with the global ecommerce economy.
Rough economic conditions may have also played a role in this trend in non-domestic online shopping in Australia. Not only has it caused online shoppers to be more conscious about what they purchase and look for the best deals it has also prevented many small retailers in Australia from taking their business online. Some also think that many retailers were burned a few years ago as they invested a lot of money trying to set up shop online without the technical, or consumer support. No longer can excuses hold retailers back as the global trend is shifting toward an online ecommerce shopping experience because of the cost savings for the retailers and convenience for the shopper.
Nick was born and raised in California, but has been working the dot com scene in Seattle for many years. He co-founded ZippyCart back in 2009, and now works here full-time. Nick wears many hats at ZippyCart, including producing content for our Ecommerce News blog. Nick loves photography and the outdoors, so when not working on ZippyCart you can find him out and about in Seattle.
