As the Australian economy begins its post-pandemic recovery, retail remains a notoriously difficult sector to succeed in. There are a number of reasons for this, from increasing competition in an already crowded space, consumer demand for quality as well as low price points, and higher overheads for rent and services such as water, gas and electricity when operating a physical bricks-and-mortar store.
However, there is one space experiencing immense growth and that’s ecommerce. Obviously, 2020 pushed a lot of consumers to seek out products and services online and this included demographics that would not usually have turned to the Internet for shopping, and product categories that are not generally bought online.
According to a global survey across 11 markets by Shopify, 84% of consumers shopped online during the pandemic. In the US, this translated to 10 years of ecommerce growth in three months. Although this growth is likely to stall as we move into 2021, and brick-and-mortar stores begin to recover from the pandemic plunge, ecommerce is still going to be a huge opportunity for any business looking to scale its growth.
Beware, of course, that as ecommerce growth spikes, so too will customer expectations around offerings, speed, website design and user experience, efficiency, security and delivery/returns policies. The ecommerce market will also become crowded as big brands muscle in.
Some of these effects will be noticeable – higher ad costs for example. It will also expand the usual retail market quite considerably, allowing consumers to look interstate and abroad for products and services which fulfil their needs. Increased competition allows consumers to be fussier and more specific with their demands – think direct same or next-day delivery, free shipping and sustainable packaging.
The incredible growth we’ve seen in this area means it’s a sector which deserves attention, especially as competition picks up and more and more businesses look to diversify by heading online.
That’s why we here at Ambire have decided to dedicate an entire section of our website to ecommerce, publishing case studies on Aussie businesses that are making it big, as well as guides which will be useful long into the future and keeping you updated with the latest ecommerce news and developments.
We hope these resources can be of use to you as we move into this ‘new normal’ world of business and life.
