Australia’s E-Commerce Future Unveiled by Circana Report
Key Insights and Strategies for Retail’s Digital Evolution
Circana, the world’s leading advisor on consumer behaviour, has released its groundbreaking Industry Insights report into the state of e-commerce in Australia. The report, entitled “Unlocking The Next Wave Of E-Commerce Growth,” identifies the breadth of opportunity available to the retail sector to drive growth through the embrace and revolution of e-commerce.
The report identifies three important areas of focus for the retail sector:
- Continue enhancing e-commerce capability
- View e-commerce as more than online sales
- Execute across omni-channel touchpoints
Pandemic Peak
The pandemic helped to accelerate digital adoption across the world including Australia. Total Australian retail online dollar sales grew during the pandemic by 7.3x, outpacing total instore retail sales over the last five years. Online sales increased by 186 percent compared to the five year average. Despite this, in-store retail generated 2.6x more actual dollar growth.
Revenue Reversion and Recovery
The report outlines that while the online retail market moderated in the 2023 financial year, the outlook for 2024 is improving. Like the total market, online grocery is back in growth.
Penetration Plateau and Pick-Up
Enticing more shoppers online and encouraging increased online shopping frequency is now the new challenge for the retail sector. Circana research shows that post-pandemic customer acquisition is proving to be much more challenging. It is also proving more costly.
Online Outliers
Circana’s research shows that households with higher incomes and kids and pets have a higher propensity to buy online and have helped to drive the resurgence in online shopping.
Personalised Precision
Personalised precision is a key area of opportunity in the online space as the digital ecosystem allows brands to a build comprehensive customer profile ensuring a more personalised and customised shopping experience.
Flexing Fulfilment
Improved online customer experiences will be crucial to ensuring digital investments are a future industry tailwind. This applies to growing and maintaining a loyal online customer base with more experienced buyers prepared to shop around for a better service. The same goes for reengaging lapsed and hesitant buyers, the recruitment of whom remains vital.
Key Strategies for Retail’s Digital Evolution
Based on the insights from the Circana report, here are some key strategies that retailers can implement to drive growth through e-commerce:
- Invest in e-commerce capabilities. This includes developing a user-friendly website, offering a wide range of payment options, and providing fast and reliable delivery.
- View e-commerce as more than online sales. E-commerce can be used to improve the customer experience in a number of ways, such as providing personalized recommendations, offering loyalty programs, and making it easy for customers to return or exchange products.
- Execute across omni-channel touchpoints. Customers expect a seamless shopping experience across all channels, whether they are shopping online, in-store, or over the phone. Retailers need to make sure that their e-commerce and offline operations are integrated so that customers can easily move between channels.
- Focus on customer acquisition and retention. The cost of acquiring new customers is rising, so it is important for retailers to focus on retaining existing customers. This can be done by offering loyalty programs, providing excellent customer service, and tailoring the shopping experience to individual customers’ needs.
- Invest in personalized precision. Retailers can use data and analytics to better understand their customers and provide them with more personalized shopping experiences. This can lead to higher customer satisfaction, increased sales, and improved loyalty.
By implementing these strategies, retailers can position themselves for success in the future of e-commerce.
Also read: Top 6 ways Australian businesses are using AI in e-commerce right now
