Here a great source of this
……..The fashion retailer recently conducted a multi-channel Conversion Lift study with Facebook, finding for every $1 spent in Facebook advertising, Country Road generated an additional $18.20 in revenue, of which $15.40 was attributed to bricks and mortar stores. The study focused on Country Road’s Holiday 2015 campaign, which ran from November 17 to December 24, 2015.
source http://bit.ly/29auxGG
If you are an Australian organisation selling goods and services online in Australia, then the Goods and Services Tax (GST) will apply to all online transactions, except for those that are GST-exempt.
Generally, if GST applies to a transaction in the offline (physical) world then GST also applies to a transaction for the same item online.
If, however, the purchaser of the goods or services is from outside Australia, then GST is not applicable. Nor is GST applicable if an overseas organisation sells goods or services with a value of less than A$1000 to an Australian customer. However, if a foreign organisation is doing business from within Australia, then GST (and all other regulatory and taxation) obligations apply.
You might make a percentage of your sales through your website, but how can you build on that? Here are five tips.
1. Build a brand, not just a website
A clear, simple to navigate website is paramount. And while you can build your own site these days, if this isn’t your area of expertise, you’re far better off hiring a website creative to do it for you.
According to the Forrester Consulting research, poor website design would deter 48% of consumers from purchasing.
The founder of online retailer Buccaneer Grooming, Rhys Furner, says you’ve got to go one step further than just building a great site though.
“Many online businesses create a website and expect sales to come through. The reality is that you need to build your brand first and foremost through establishing what your brand is all about and then executing this across social media, your website and its products. Once people come in contact with your brand, they are much more likely to buy into it if there’s brand consistency,” Furner says.
Ensure your brand is carried over to when your customer opens their order, he adds. “Do something cool that your competitors don’t do and ensure the customer journey is continued post-purchase.”
2. Be clear about how parcels are sent
Shipping-related concerns are a crucial factor in consumer’s decision-making process when considering purchasing offshore, according to a new study.
More than half of Australian consumers stated that shipping costs determined their decision to make an online purchase overseas.
Commissioned by FedEx Express, the study was conducted by Forrester Consulting to examine global consumer behaviour cross-border e-commerce. The research provides key insights for SMEs looking to expand nationally.
“The research study highlights that consumers’ trust in the overall shipping experience is key to winning online customers from other markets,” Kim Garner, managing director, FedEx Express Australasia says.
“Customers need to have confidence that they can return items easily and have access to dependable shipping service.”
3. Remove payment barriers
There’s nothing worse than having to register as a new site user, all your address information and the rest before being taken to the payment section.
Bolster your sales by making it easy for customers to access and pay through your site. Because, the reality is that if you don’t make it convenient, customers will take their business elsewhere.
In addition to easy payment solutions make sure you’re offering great customer service.
Milan Direct’s founder and chief executive Dean Ramler says he’s got a dedicated customer service team in place.
“We have live chat functionality on our website, so customers can jump on the chat and get an instant response from one of our customer service team, and we also offer 24/7 customer support.”
4. Get serious about SEO
The single biggest mistake that SMEs make when it comes to search engine optimisation is duplicating the meta descriptions, (which refers to the meta tag that describes the page) on every page of their website, according to Louder Online general manager Aaron Agius.
“We see it time and time again when businesses come to us. Meta data should be unique on every single page so that you’re widening the scope in a search.”
Agius also sees small businesses trying to save a few bucks with SEO by outsourcing this process offshore, which can result in unnatural links being created, which are penalised by Google. Regularly updated, fresh content will also help you in the search stakes.
5. Offer free shipping
Amazon first offered free shipping in 2002 for a minimum spend. But today, free shipping is becoming the norm.
According to Forrester Research, free shipping trumps fast shipping for web shoppers. It found that consumers cite low prices and low delivery costs as the top two reasons for revisiting an online store.
However, absorbing the costs of free shipping can be financially painful for small online merchants, who are implementing free shipping in order to keep up with the major retailers.
National Online Retail Association executive chairman and chief executive Paul Greenberg says that free shipping is a very powerful lever for customer engagement online. The key is for online retailers to find a way to make the shipping part of the sale appealing to consumers.
Offering free shipping over a certain threshold is a popular approach, he says.
“I think that shoppers recognise that somewhere along the line, someone has to pay for free shipping, and that it’s more likely to be them (the customer), than the retailer. My advice is for online retailers to do the numbers and be sure that offering free shipping is actually a sustainable strategy for their business.”
Article originally posted on http://www.smartcompany.com.au/technology/46097-five-easy-ways-to-bolster-your-online-sales.html#
Retails leading thinkers
We have had some great experiences and introductions, such as meeting with Ross McDonald, Industry Leader – Retail, Media & Classifieds at Google ; Christine Cross, board member at Tesco and Woolworths, Doug Fraser from Facebook Analytics and many others.
RetailCare has established a great relationship with www.fashion.ebay.com.au this year and this has resulted in benefits to RetailCare customers such as probationary periods being waived and creation of best practice stores.
PwC Retail Innovation Series
RetailCare have been guests at every breakfast sessions in the innovation series this year. Thank you to Stuart Harker, head of Retail at PwC.
The Future of Retail:
RetailCare is getting referrals from PwC for instore and online eRetailer, eWholesaler and the value add understanding that comes with the Point of Sale perspective has highlighted RetailCare in the eyes of the experts as the business to take Retailers through the 3rd and 4th generation of Retail.
eRetailer
The eRetailer platform and RetailCare’s ability to value add and customise to achieve the desired results has been fantastic this year. True multichannel retailing, with Forcast now trading across 35 stores with CI POS and online with eRetailer and through eBay Fashion Gallery and Westfield store. All controlled and managed by CI Office.
www.Roadhouse.net.au has gone live after a rebuild with a fantastic video and great look. Watch this space as these guys focus on their content marketing and the creation of an innovative marketing campaign. See the movie here.
eWholesaler
www.mitchellswholesale.com is the first fully integrated wholesale site created by eRetailer and RetailCare. This features wholesale customer prices, contact, credit relationship and ABN confirmation. Have a look at the wholesale order grid created by RetailCare.
The next version of CI Office incorporates new email features for summaries, purchase orders and invoices directly from CI Office.
Forward Planning
Using RetailCare’s skills and expertise to help you refine and redefine your business processes will help you to address how to use your POS/Office system to streamline your business.
We have saved our customers pain and time through www.CIWebReport.com customisation. Whilst the real time sales info was cool, it has gone even further with custom inventory and sales reporting built into the marketing tools.
As online retail shifts from a simple cash register online to an integrated supply chain and invoicing system, the RetailCare perspective becomes more relevant than ever. Currently producing eCommerce that sits at 3.5. We are now working on evolving towards 4th generation. This means that the role of the customer has shifted from being the target to being central in the sales process. Social Media and Big Data enable significant intelligence and targeting while the 3rd generation is focused on lower the cost of fulfillment.
Customer Engagement Sessions
For 2013 we will continue our monthly forums. In 2012 we hosted 3 sessions sharing our market intelligence and knowledge of the Retail world. As a result, we will be involved in planning sessions with clients over January.
If you are reviewing your business during this time, let us know.
Support
We also would like to remind you that our offices will be closed for trading from 3:00pm on Friday 21st December 2012 and will reopen on Monday 7th January 2013.
If you need urgent support during the break, it is best to email us at support@retailcare.com.au or to call the support line 03 9514 9680.