Published on the 09/06/2014 | Written by Newsdesk
The retail markets in both Australia and New Zealand are in a state of technology-induced flux even though consumers in both countries still spend less than $7 out of every $100 online…
Retailers are grappling with the rise of the tech-savvy consumer who increasingly uses mobile devices to find products, compare prices and consult reviews before making a purchase. However most buyers still make that purchase offline.
For retailers, there is a clear need to engage with clients online, but remain prepared to sell to them through bricks and mortar outlets.
According to the newly released NAB Online retail survey in the year to April 2014 Australians spent A$15.25 billion on online purchases – 6.6 percent of total consumer spending. The New Zealand Retailers Association meanwhile has estimated that five percent of consumer spending was conducted online in 2013.
Even though that only represents $NZ5 out of every $NZ100, the NZRA questioned whether online retail might be at a “tipping point” suggesting it would only take three extra online purchases a year by New Zealanders to tip the online sales rate to 10 percent.
Whether or not consumers actually buy goods and services online, they are increasingly researching purchases online, and increasingly using mobile devices to do so.
It’s leading to an increase in online advertising. A newly released report by PricewaterhouseCoopers in New Zealand has found that internet advertising is growing at 8 percent a year, and is now expected to overtake TV advertising by 2018. Internationally mobile advertising is forecast to overtake classified advertising spending this year.
In Australia a survey by Frost & Sullivan has revealed that the online advertising market grew 16 percent in 2013, reaching $3.74 billion, accounting for 27 percent of all advertising spend. Again, the fastest growing category was mobile and online video advertising.
The importance of mobile devices in the consumer cycle has been confirmed by a newly released survey from xAd/Telemetrics which revealed, in a survey of US consumers, that mobile devices were now dominating the consumer buying decision-making process.
It found that 64 percent of consumers’ online time was spent on mobiles, and 42 percent of respondents reported that mobile devices provided them with the most important purchasing insights.
While the survey was particular to the US, where eight percent of all purchases are made online – a higher figure than that in Australia and New Zealand – it is likely an important herald of a trend heading down under for the connected consumer.
