Retail in Australia

Retail in Australia

E-commerce has emerged as a new force in retail providing consumers

with more choice and convenience than ever before. People can now shop

from retailers across the globe in the comfort of their own home. It

would be thought that exciting possibilities such as this would be

readily adopted and create competition for existing retail methods.

This has not been the outcome in Australia however. Although

e-commerce continues to climb in adoption rates bricks and mortar

retail has not been affected to any great extent. This being said some

areas of e-commerce are becoming successful new ventures on the net.

Throughout this essay we will look at what e-commerce is, how it is

being used and who is using it. It will also be considered whether

e-commerce will ever replace bricks and mortar retailers or will

e-commerce disappear?

E-commerce is a business that is run on the internet rather than from

a bricks and mortar location. E-commerce uses computer networks and

telecommunications to conduct its business as it has no face to face

contact with its customers. It can be argued that e-commerce is a more

effective way of doing business. (NOIE, 2000) This is because it does

not require all the overheads and staff required in a bricks and

mortar business. However E-commerce is more complicated than it may

first seem, more is involved than the simple transfer of funds over

the internet. For an online business to be a success it must be

planned, established and run as if it were a bricks and mortar

business. E-commerce ends with the buying and selling of goods and

services over the internet. (Mitchell. J, 2000) Marketing of goods and

services, formation of customer relationships, presentation of goods

and services for consumers to brows, transfer of funds and after sale

customer care must all be established and maintained.

E-commerce can be conducted in a Business to business (B2B), Business

to Government (B2G) or Business to consumer (B2C) way. B2C e-commerce

is an area of significant growth. Many Australians are choosing to use

the internet to make purchases. A study conducted by NOIE revealed

that in 2002 54% of Australians had access to the internet in their

home. Although online consumption is not one of the highest ranking

activities conducted by Australians on the internet it is an area that

is growing. ...

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...trieved: November 14, 2004, from:

http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/nw2000/talkback/p71.htm

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