Australia was lagging behind international competitors with more than half of its retailers lacking an online presence, Senator Stephen Conroy said at last week’s government-hosted online retail forum in Sydney.
Citing reports, Conroy added that 72.9 percent of Australia's retailers did not offer online sales or transactions and were missing out on opportunities.
"Transacting online can deliver unprecedented benefits to Australian businesses in the form of increased productivity, a broader customer base and increased revenues.
"It can also deliver benefits to consumers in the form of greater customer satisfaction, better product information and, in some instances, lower prices.
"It’s clear then that if online retail in Australia is lagging internationally, then these benefits are not being maximised throughout the economy," he said.
Conroy claimed the Productivity Commission inquiry into the future of Australian retail due later this year and the National Broadband Network would help fill the gap.
Attendees at the forum included the Minister for Small Business Nick Sherry and speakers from eBay, PayPal, Deals Direct, Google, and the Council of Small Business Organisations Australia.
Retailer concerns
Conroy said the greatest worry and inhibitor for businesses lacking an online ecommerce presence was security and skills.
“At June 2010, almost half the small and medium enterprises connected to the internet reported being concerned about it," he said.
Other concerns included: a lack of customer contact, expertise in computers, cost, logistics of receiving, warehousing and dispatching goods, and customer service, he said.
"Part of that solution, I believe, is the NBN. The NBN will provide access to affordable, high speed broadband to 100 per cent of Australian premises.
"The shopping strip of old is now a borderless, global space which no longer needs a shopfront, or even a local population, to thrive," he said.
RedGroup Retail chairman Steven Cain reportedly blamed import restrictions and GST-free online shopping for the bankruptcy of its local bookstores, Borders Australia, Angus & Robertson and Whitcoulls NZ.
The bookstores were part of a group of large brick-and-mortar businesses that last month called on the Federal Government to amend its taxation laws.
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