It’s patently clear that online retail is now aggressively taking hold within Australia. According to a PricewaterhouseCoopers report released earlier this week, online retail will grow 13% this year to be worth $13.6 billion.
One of the more interesting findings within the report was that 44% of that money is being spent offshore.
While many retailers are complaining this is actually stealing money away from local retailers, Australian online businesses actually have a course of action to fight this. That is, to market to their own offshore customers.
Internet retailing is a global business. You aren’t just advertising to your local customers, but rather broadcasting all of your products to the rest of the world. Are you doing enough to market to customers in America, or Europe?
While you may not think you have products that are suited to international purchases, you should at least try. Think about how you could change your product offering, or create some new products, that could be sold overseas. You’ll expand your customer base overnight.
Yesterday the Australian Federal Police arrested a New South Wales man for hacking into the website of NBN operator Platform Networks. He’s been charged with 49 counts of unauthorised access and modification.
It can’t be said enough that businesses not only need to keep their security up-to-date and monitor for any attacks, but security experts say you also need to be tracking when these types of attacks occur, and what methods they’re using.
Hackers are crafty. They will change their methods every time and it’s up to you to keep on top of what the newest types of attacks are. Learn the terminology, and how popular each method is.
Then, you need to speak with your chief technology officer on how you can prepare your business against these types of attacks.
Don’t get caught out by faulty security procedures. Be prepared for all types of attacks, and make sure you’re up to speed on the latest in the hacking scene.
The submissions to the Australian Communications and Media Authority Reconnecting the Customer report were made public this week, and the responses are less than surprising.
Consumer groups including the Australian Communications Consumer Action Network have criticised responses from telco giants Optus, Telstra and Vodafone, (all part of the Communications Alliance, which also made a submission), saying that they aren’t doing enough to address customer concerns.
While these telcos say customer service is a problem, they say a new code of conduct should be sufficient for dealing with customer satisfaction problems.
By far, the biggest challenge facing Australian telecommunications companies right now is customer satisfaction – especially for VHA, which is facing a class-action lawsuit over its network dropouts over the past year.
The reaction to the submissions highlights a growing need among tech companies for trained and knowledgeable customer service. Many consumers, whether individuals or businesses, aren’t familiar with tech products and have the potential to become frustrated when things don’t work.
Maintaining good customer service is paramount. If you aren’t putting enough resources into this area, you should do so immediately.
Last week an American firm investigated the most expensive AdWords available and came up with 20 different categories. At the top were broad terms like “credit” and “lawyer”, with “mortgage” also making it high up on the list.
The reason behind the expensive nature of these keywords is clear: the companies that are more likely to offer mortgage or legal products have more money to spend. The demand for these keywords is higher, so only the most cashed-up businesses can afford them.
However, while the list of expensive keywords might seem daunting at first, there is a lesson here for online SMEs: you don’t need to pay more to get effective keywords.
In fact, SEO experts say that as long as you make your keywords targeted and niche-based, you should be able to get some effective advertising for much, much cheaper.
For instance, have you contemplated adding a location into your AdWords? By focusing on the surrounding suburbs near where your business is located, you may be able to gain new business without having to spend too much. From there, word-of-mouth may grow.
AdWords are critical, but don’t be forced into paying too much for a “premium” keyword that won’t do your business any good.
Last week the legal battle between group buying giant Groupon and local operator Scoopon was finally settled out of court. Groupon now has control over the Groupon.com.au trademark and domain name, after the Catch of the Day business registered both last year.
The battle has been heated, with Groupon chief executive Andrew Mason even making an official blog post about it earlier this year. He claims he offered nearly $US300,000 for both pieces of IP, a deal which Scoopon rejected.
But while the matter is settled now, and Groupon is likely to retire the StarDeals brand in favour of its own, the entire debacle represents a great lesson for tech companies – squatting can make for ugly headlines.
Squatting occurs when an individual or business deliberately registers a popular domain – which happens to be the same name as a popular company – and then waits for that company to make a deal. However, it can backfire.
If you’re sitting on a premium piece of digital property, and are offered a good deal, it’s in your best interests to get out while the money is high. If you’re being threatened with lawsuits, it’s often easier just to take the money, which you can end up putting back into your own business.
Patrick Stafford is a freelance journalist and a former deputy editor of SmartCompany.
