Online Retailing In Australia 2011: Performance And Channels

Over the past year, Australian online retail enjoyed increased levels of investment and grew rapidly, but at the end of this period the sector otherwise looked much like it did at the start. In particular, Australia's smallest online retailers are still growing the fastest, web-based businesses still dominate Australian online retail, and Australian retailers continue to enjoy solid performance against key global metrics. Meanwhile, the small crop of multichannel retailers operating in Australia so far has done a fair job of deploying certain multichannel shopping tools but still struggles to create an integrated multichannel experience for customers. In the years ahead, cashed-up online pure plays will seize a greater share of all sales, while the largest traditional retailers will finally attempt to craft multichannel retail experiences.