Global e-commerce company PayPal has today released a report which details the meteoric rise of online business, including predictions that e-commerce will yield $30.2 billion by the end of this year.
The study, “Secure Insight: Changing the Way we Pay”, was conducted in conjunction with Forrester Research, Nielsen and the Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS). Based on research conducted this year, it explores the factors influencing Australia’s boom in online commerce as well as new technologies gaining ground in today's retail landscape.
Results were released this morning via a breakfast seminar at The Westin Hotel Sydney, with guest speakers including PayPal Australia managing director Frerk-Malte Feller, Cudo founder Billy Tucker, and Nielsen research director Melanie Ingrey.
The research, which complements a similar study completed last year, recorded an increase of over a billion dollars in e-commerce facilities since 2010, with online commerce is expected to grow another 12.2 per cent throughout 2012 to reach $37.7 billion.
The report also outlined a wealth of opportunities for Australian retailers to increase market share, and revealed that domestic retail continues to account for three quarters (73 per cent) of online consumption in Australia, although 63 per cent of Australians have shopped overseas in the last year.
Faced with a challenging environment PayPal Australia managing director Feller said it is essential for Australian retailers to adapt to the shifting landscape and use technology to build and expand their businesses.
“Online commerce is no longer just about having a website and we have seen more changes in the way people shop and pay in the last year than we have seen in the last 15,” he said.
“The culmination of new technologies and new business models are radically altering the retail landscape as we know it. These emerging channels bring huge opportunities for local Australian merchants to compete in the online market and increase engagement with their customers.”
Feller also identified mobile technology as one of the fastest rising mediums for purchasing, with with PayPal Australia seeing mobile payments on a steep trajectory of 430 per cent year-on-year..
“In the last year we have seen a wealth of new business models emerge, that are re-defining the point of purchase,” he said.
“Smartphones are accelerating the path to purchase by becoming a virtual store in our pockets, enabling consumers and merchants to connect in new ways. Through new technologies merchants have opportunities to fast track the ‘place’ of purchase and generate new revenue streams.”
However, Feller warned that even retailers who are on board with new technology cannot afford to rest on their laurels.
“New business models, new technologies and a new consumer have changed the face of both the retail and payments landscape, changing the way we shop and pay. Whille the growth and innovations we have seen in the last year have been phenomenal, this is just the beginning as we continue on a journey that is set to change the way we shop and pay forevermore.”