Now here come the international bricks and mortar retailers with their online stores.  JC Penney have recently launched an online store with an Australian website URL and owned by a locally established licensee. This foray into Australia begs the question as to whether other big name retailers are about to do the same.

Australians are the third biggest online consumers in the world pro-rata to population and while this is happening, some of our local retail giants like David Jones, Myer and Target have been slow to embrace online shopping. I’m sure this is about to all change.

While our local market is being eroded by international online players, what are our retailers doing to break in to international markets. While there are some novel Australian online retail entrepreneurs selling their products overseas, are traditional retailers tapping into this great emerging opportunity?

Let’s not wait for the big global players to encroach into our space. Local retailers should improve their online stores and look to grow their customer base in international markets. It’s all happening out there!

Members and guests came to hear me speak about “Integrating an Engaging Customer Experience in Multi-Channel Retailing”.

A shopper’s “Customer Journey” for any retail brand should be one and the same – regardless of a bricks ‘n mortar or online experience!

Focussing on how to maintain brand image when moving from one channel to another (for example from Visual Merchandising to Virtual Merchandising), I also covered:

• What’s happening in retail today…
• A new and unexpected threat to the retail category…
• Retail in the next 5 years…
• What’s missing online, an
• Who’s doing it right!

It was a great opportunity to provoke some interesting conversation around current retail trends in Australia – with an engaged audience of marketing services providers to the retail industry.

Many felt concerned by the fact that consumers are making purchases over the web and that these web customers are becoming more comfortable with the process. Others questioned whether Australians were actually comfortable with buying online?

With a strong belief that the physical retail environment is essential to sales, and that people like beautiful spaces to shop, the consensus was that it often depends on what exactly it is that you’re buying.

Where many people go to physical retail spaces to look, touch and feel a product, they often return to find the best price on the internet and finalise their purchase online.

If you’d like to receive a copy of the presentation, feel free to contact me direct and I’d be happy to send you the PDF.

Lastly, I’d like to say a special thanks to Terri Wilson (President of the “Retail Design Institute”) for inviting me to present, and to Peter & Fred of “Flash Photobition” for being fantastic hosts!

Remember the internet is not just a sales channel Down Under.

Like their American counterparts, more and more internet users in Australia are going online to research their purchases before buying in-store. The Australian Centre for Retail Studies (ACRS) has reported that up to one-half of consumers in Australia, did some online research before shopping in-store. That’s huge!

So I ask the following questions:

• How well are your products or services merchandised online? Do you have lots of product information available?
• How easy is it to navigate through the site while viewing products?
• How well are your products grouped and displayed online?
• Without the ability to touch and feel, do your photography and the use of online tools enable a multi dimensional display?
• Overall, do they look attractive and inspirational?

In essence, the online product display needs to mirror all the tried and tested offline merchandising techniques. This is what we call Virtual Merchandising.

These presentation standards will certainly strengthen brand equity and maximize sales.

Consumers, being more in control of their purchasing choices, are looking for convenience and simplicity. They are demanding value for money, making their pennies stretch further and attempting to lighten up and enjoy themselves.

These changes point to the growing importance for a brand’s online presence to match and deliver against all these demands. Your website’s look and feel, content, functionality and navigation will have to be authentic and engaging. It doesn’t matter what type of business or service you’re involved in!

Consumers will want to know so much more about your company and its products. They will seek out all of the available product or service options online, compare prices and be able to influence others through review and feedback.

And with people “cocooning” in their homes to save money, they will be browsing and shopping more online. They will look for simplicity and convenience. Those brands that communicate how they can make life a little easier will earn consumers trust and loyalty.

People will also want to enjoy themselves and be entertained, and those websites offering a really engaging interactive experience will become more popular.

A companies’ site has become the core relationship building tool within the marketing and communication mix.

How does your website measure up?

Most major retailers now days have “flagship stores”. These are usually large, state of the art showcase stores, situated in premier shopping locations. It’s about building large environments where the retailer has a platform to fully express their brand values and full range of products.

While these physical flagships are built at an enormous cost, date over time and are only ever seen by a small section of your customer base, why not build your website as your “Flagship” and open your cutting edge environment to millions of potential customers.

Are Retailers in Australia investing enough in their websites to inspire consumers and deliver a similar experience? Are their websites structured to build rich customer relationships with their brands?

We all know how customer behaviour is changing and how much browsing is done online prior to purchase. It’s time the website became the key component of any retailers marketing strategy.

What do you think? I’d love to hear your thoughts on this.