Can you afford not to have an eCommerce strategy

Did you know that Australia ranks 9th worldwide in terms of eCommerce market penetration? Why? Because Australia has very high mobile and internet usage across all age groups and they love their internet shopping and social media. With a predominately urban population and great infrastructure, Australia is uniquely positioning to reap the benefits of ecommerce. It is predicted the online sales appetite in Australia will exceed $32 billion in 2017 .... and that is just in the consumer markets!

What are we buying? According to the National Australia Bank (NAB) in 2014 the most popular online product categories were:

• 34% Department and variety stores
• 17% Homewares and appliances
• 15% Groceries and liquor
• 12% Media; books, movies and music
• 11% fashion

NAB's National Online Sales Retail Index (October 2016) reported Australian's spent over $21 billion on online retail. This figure increased by over 13% in the last year and as already mentioned is expected to continue to rise to $32 billion.

But many Australian businesses are being left behind as they do not have an ecommerce presence or strategy. Ecommerce is not just for big businesses – all businesses can benefit by increasing their online exposure to identify new customers and new opportunities and to meet the new expectation of customer demand in an online digital world.

We have entered a new wave of business transformation where the goal is to both drive growth through ecommerce and improve operating efficiency, all while simultaneously rethinking how businesses operate. This transformation imperative, often referred to as digital transformation, is the result of four interrelated forces:

1. Anywhere Anytime - Commerce Without Limits
   Sell on mobile. Sell in store. Sell on a plane. Today, technology must power amazing omnichannel experiences to deliver your products and services no matter where your customers are or when they want to transact.
2. Changing Trends - Stay Ahead of the Curve
   Customer behaviour is changing every day. Today's bleeding edge innovation will be tomorrow's table stakes. Web commerce gives you the flexibility to customise and extend your systems to create unique, differentiated branded experiences. Adapt fast, and stay ahead of changing customer buying patterns.
3. Efficiency - Streamline Processes. Improve Customer Service.
   Ongoing advances in technology are enabling new value creation often by connecting previously separate activities – marketing, sales, service, supply chain – while also continuing to streamline efficiency through the use of more open technologies and more agile methods.
4. New Competitors - The Web Makes it Much Easier to Compete
   The emergence of non-traditional competitors utilizing new bases of competition (e.g. smart, connected products & open ecosystems) is threatening existing participants and highlighting the need for an enterprise-wide rethink.

Businesses need to enter their customers' online life; sales is now a digital social cycle more than a visit to shopping center. The reinvention of key business activities helps define a new digital business model – where digital is "at the core" rather than an "extension" or "bolt-on".