Rise of the online retailer

Over the years the Internet has made conducting business easier, faster and less hassle. Online payments are becoming more secure, and the end user is becoming more trusting and accepting of online e-commerce, through advancements with Bpay and secure SSL encryption.

However, the general consensus in Australia towards online retail has always been that you simply cannot trust online shops. CRN’s sister publication PC Authority magazine’s Reliability and Service Awards proved that theory wrong.
If you combined the reliability and service ratings of the online shops with those of regular ‘bricks and mortar’ stores, the winning bricks and mortar shop, Jaycar, finished 15th overall. Harvey Norman finished 36th out of 37 with ‘average’ results.

The joint winning shops in PC Authority’s Online Retailer award – PlusCorp.com.au, Secret.com.au and MegaPC.com.au – all saw 92 percent or more of their customers ‘satisfied’ or ‘very satisfied’ with customer service, delivery accuracy and value for money.

These results showed online stores in Australia are far more mature than many people give them credit for.

Garrison Huang, managing director at computer accessories online retailer Anyware, says there are most definitely more online retailers these days.
While the distributor has not undertaken a fine analysis of online resellers versus traditional resellers, Huang believes there is a clear trend that online retailers are starting to make a big impact.

“We have seen more purchases from online retailers. Some of them are doing very good jobs in customer services and retentions,” he says.

“Among our customers, we have pure online retailers and also online retailers with a shop front. One would say that there are more and more pure online retailers
than before.”

Gaining the customer’s trust

Online retailers believe the increase in online sales is due to people getting used to purchasing online, especially as an more people have computers in their homes then ever before.

Nigel Fernandes, managing director of computer hardware online retailer PlusCorp.com.au, says with the improvement of Internet technologies, such as high-speed broadband and enhanced payment security by the banks and freight companies, customers have been able to invest their trust in online shopping.
“As new technologies are embraced and customers are offered easy track-and-trace functionality on their websites, it becomes easier for customers to invest in online stores,” he says. “As the Internet further develops, retailers wishing to stay at the forefront will need to follow suit and stay ahead of the competition.”

David Papp, managing director of another online retailer MegaPC.com.au, believes retailers are beginning to enjoy a good reputation by keeping customers happy consistently. For an online shop, the reputation exists in the form of customer testimonials on independent websites. Nevertheless, there are still people who prefer to buy from a physical shop, even if buying online, rather than a home/garage online shop, especially if it doesn’t list a physical address and phone number.

Online retail in general has had a lot more mainstream exposure

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