Parcel Perform is back from Melbourne!

We had a chance to catch up with our customers in Australia, speak to e-retailers and delivery partners at the Australian Retail Week to exchange ideas and showcase the importance of a seamless customer experience.

We gained further insights on the best practices of successful retailers and latest challenges they face within Australia, especially concerning growing demand of export to China and other key growth markets.

We’ve got to say: Australia’s eCommerce landscape is remarkable. Their focus on customer engagement is exceptional.

A report by Internet Retailing and Australia Post shows the local market is set to spend close to $20 billion shopping online for physical goods and another $5 billion on digital goods like concert tickets, movies and music.

Furthermore, online shopping is projected to grow 19% year-on-year growth.

It’s a booming market!

We were also fortunate to participate in two conferences and award shows this year, the Retail Fulfilment Summit and Inside Retail Live - the Festival Of Ideas.

Retail Fulfilment Summit

Here we spoke to key delivery and fulfilment partners working domestically to make the last mile delivery experience easier for customers.

We learned a lot about their growing same day demands, the increasing need for seamless cross-border transactions and the role of order fulfilment to provide a superior customer experience. We also attended the Retail Fulfilment Awards where we were announced as a finalist for ‘Best Disruptor’. Congratulations to all the category award winners!

Inside Retail Live

Part of the Festival of Ideas, Inside Retail Live explored key local and international trends affecting Australian eCommerce retailers.

Key takeaways related to customer experience, emerging technologies and the role of the Asian market. We had a booth at the the Innovation Lane where we saw service robots (they can even dance!), outstanding augmented / virtual reality initiatives and other innovative ideas to enhance customer’s retail experience.

You weren’t around? Here are the 8 takeaways we would like to share with our customers and friends from the retail industry:

1. The Asian market is booming and getting a foothold into that market is priority for retailers. Next to China, Japan and Korea are the main Asian markets retailers are pushing for. Localisation of content like product descriptions and marketing materials to address language barriers is crucial. Products should also be reviewed to ensure they cater to specific customer demands is crucial.

2. Getting your delivery right is important. 76% of consumers view the delivery experience as the true test of how much a company values them.

3. Consumers expect delivery and collection experiences to seamlessly fit into their personal schedules. They want more delivery options like same-day-delivery and click-and-collect. They also prefer to have full visibility of the delivery experience and proactive delivery notifications.

4. Delivering a superior customer experiences is key to staying viable in an increasingly competitive retail landscape. We can take a leaf out of Amazon’s playbook in this area - innovating, investment and being patient.

5. Retailers also need to deliver a seamless omni-channel experience. In the recent Australian Retail Outlook survey, establishing or investing more in an eCommerce and omni-channel presence were the two biggest priorities for retailers.

6. Retailers are now more concerned about international competition especially with Amazon and other international retail heavyweights launching in Australia. It motivates them to not only match the offering, but go beyond. Brands are increasingly emphasising their in-store experience to differentiate themselves.

7. Some retailers are thinking beyond eCommerce to look into integrating virtual reality or augmented reality into the retail experience to allowing customers a private look into their offerings.. The industry is still young, but is projected to grow exponentially.

8. Appealing to the mobile consumer is crucial. Customers check offers and research products on their mobile devices, even within the store. Australian consumers are also relying less on cash when they shop and prefer credit cards or ePayments through their smartphones. Shops need to stay up to date with latest payment trends and offer seamless solutions to appeal to today’s tech-savvy customers.

You want to gain more hands-on insights and understand how your webshop can position itself to compete in a highly competitive retail environment? Reach out to us and discuss with our experts. Our team here at Parcel Perform is happy to share more insights with you.