Ask Us Anything: e-commerce expert Paul Waddy answers your online retail questions.

This month we asked you for questions on e-commerce and elevating your online presence. Answering your Ask Us Anything questions is ecommerce expert Paul Waddy.

We have selected the three questions asked most frequently, and hope Paul’s answers will help you build a successful online retail presence.

1. How has the e-commerce landscape changed in Australia in recent years, and where do you see it heading?

E-commerce went through a huge boom during COVID-19, on the back of the government giving out a lot of support, and with physical stores closed, consumers spent it online. Since then interest rates have risen to combat inflation, and as a result consumer spending has decreased, which has meant that e-commerce has cooled a little. 

However, it’s still only roughly 20% of total retail spending, and I predict that will hit 50% at some point in the next decade, so I think we’re still just getting started. 

In terms of other changes, Temu has arrived, quickly becoming the fifth largest online retailer in the country, so we’ve lost some domestic revenue to an offshore giant. Amazon continues to grow, and should end up the biggest. E-commerce has fallen in love with AI, so we’re starting to see copy, and even some creative being generated using AI as well as the automation of some tasks, like video editing, which results in cost savings. 

Social media continues to be where it’s at. Most e-commerce businesses I see that really kick on successfully also tend to be incredible at socials and content, and I do not see that changing. 

2. What advice would you give to someone transitioning from a physical retail store to e-commerce?

If you’re intending to remain as an omni channel retailer, and keep your stores, consider running lean, and picking and packing from store, as well as offering click and collect. The cost savings on warehouse rent and staff, or third-party logistics costs are likely to be at least 5% of your revenue, and the saving on the freight of click and collect also adds up. If you are going into e-commerce, use your shared services. JB Hi-Fi famously got their store staff to deliver orders during COVID-19, I’m not saying to do that, but picking and packing from store, handling customer service emails from store, these sorts of things all add up to help make you profitable.

Leverage your store data base. Collect their mobile numbers and emails; those customers will have a higher lifetime value than new ones acquired through paid media. Use Shopify POS to consolidate your platforms, assuming you will use Shopify for ecommerce.

3. What are other ways we can build an online retail presence apart from socials and paying online services?

I think every e-commerce brand should have at least six marketing channels. So aside from paid ads and socials, where else should you be? Easy – where else are your customers? Fish where the fish are…If you sell gym apparel, be in the gyms, or on the beaches, or doing run clubs. If you’re selling yoga tights, how about a yoga podcast? If you’ve invented the next Theragun, how about a three month press blitz to get some mainstream media coverage. Have you invented the next perfect pillow that eliminates neck pain? Maybe AM radio is where it’s at for you.

In short, you need to be where your customers are, and aim for at least 50% of your traffic to come from organic (free) channels.