Attention Australian retailers - The game has changed.

At the recent annual Online Retailer conference, held from 6-9 July 2010 at the Darling Harbour Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre, speakers and exhibitors from Australia and overseas reinforced the necessity of multi-channel retailing.

Representatives from Quicksilver, IBM, Zazzle, Boots.com, Salmat and more all agreed that Australia has a huge opportunity to make a real go of combining offline and online retailing: termed multi-channel retailing. They provided compelling reasons, along with the power of hindsight, for Australian-based retailers to utilise the internet as a supportive revenue stream and branding mechanism.

Chris Hogan, Director of MeMedia - experts in providing retailers with successful eCommerce solutions - has long recognised the importance of bricks and mortar retailers to become multi-channel retailers:

“When you consider the statistics from Forrester Research that 80% of Australia’s population are online and 73% of consumers want to use technology prior to purchasing, it becomes clear that your business needs to be ‘open for business’ 24 hours a day.”

 

Chris attended the Online Retailer conference this year and hopes that Australian retailers get the message: that somewhere, in some corner of the web, somebody is talking about your product and if you’re not involved then you’re not going to be considered.

Internet savvy Australian consumers are already aware of the efficiency and benefits of finding a bargain online, but statistics show that Australian retailers are currently not meeting this demand, with 43% of the Australian eCommerce spend going offshore.

One of the key messages from the conference was that large Australian retailers have proven it is possible for eCommerce websites to enhance both offline and offline sales. With this in mind, retailers should view the online revolution as an opportunity, not a threat. After all, the only threat to your retail business is the risk of not being considered in a shoppers’ buying habits at all.

An opportunity exists for your brand to be re-considered by taking a multi-channel retailing approach, which will enhance both your online and offline brand visibility, customer service and sales. So if you’re planning on playing a competitive game, there’s no denying that you need to get online. Game on.