communications report series 2010—11 report 1
TRANSCRIPT
Communications report series 2010-11
Report 1—e-commerce marketplace in Australia:
Online shopping
Joseph Di Gregorio
Manager
Communications Analysis Section
ACMA interest in the digital economy
> The digital economy = economic and social activities
that are enabled by information and communication
technologies (ICT)—in particular the internet.
> The ACMA has an interest in understanding the
developing digital economy and its impacts on the
sectors it regulates and consumers in general.
>>
> The embedded nature of the internet in the next
generation of communications technologies.
> The use of digital communications to deliver and
access services outside of traditional voice
communications.
Key findings from this report
1. Business seeking to develop online channels to
complement offline shop-front services.
2. Adoption of online shopping is now fairly wide spread
amongst consumers.
3. Australians shop online for reasons relating to
convenience and price.
4. Growth in numbers of Australians purchasing from
overseas websites.
Provision of online shopping services
> Online channels for the provision of online shopping
services:
> business own website
> group buying sites (demand aggregation)
> social networking.
Top online retail sites
Note: Persons accessing these sites from home during June 2011
545
573
608
609
620
655
662
721
737
767
784
905
1,359
1,623
4,297
0 500 1,000 1,500 2,000 2,500 3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500 5,000
FlyBuys
Ozsale.com.au
Kmart Australia
JB Hi-Fi
Myshopping.com.au
Catch of the Day
DealsDirect.com.au
Lasoo.com.au
Shopping.com Network
GetPrice Network
BIG W
Gumtree
Woolworths
Amazon
eBay
Number of users (000s)
During June 2011, 7.6 million
consumers accessed the top 15
online retail sites
Group buying
> Offer online deals from other parties for a limited time, often
one day, on selected products.
> Power of bulk buying to negotiate significant discounts
with retailers, receiving a commission based on the
number of products sold to customers through the
website.
> The three major types of deals available on these sites to
Australian consumers cover voucher discounts, clearance
goods and travel.
> 51 group buy sites operating in Australia, with the top sites
in terms of industry revenue including
Scoopon, Cudo, Living
Social, Spreets, Groupon, OurDeal, Deals.com.au and
Ouffer.
Social media
> Yet to develop as a mainstream business tool in Australia.
At April 2011, just 18 per cent of internet connected SMEs
in Australia, used some form of social media in their
business operations.
> Compare this to the some 8.6 million Australian’s who
visited social networking sites from home during June 2011.
> Social networking more about ‘word of mouth’ and
advertising than direct-transaction services.
> Info on social networking sites convinced 169,000
Australians to buy a good or service during the month of
June 2011.
What about the demand side?
Purchase of goods and services online in the six months to
April 2011 by age
62 61
6973
65
52
40
0
20
40
60
80
Total 18–24 25–34 35–44 45–54 55–64 65 +
% o
f in
tern
et u
se
rs a
ge
d 1
8 y
ea
rs a
nd
ove
r
Age group
Purchase of goods and services online in the last six months to
April 2011 by location
62 63
58 56
70
0
20
40
60
80
Total Major city Inner regional Outer regional Remote/very remote
% inte
rne
t u
se
rs a
ge
d 1
8 y
ea
rs a
nd
ove
r
Reasons for purchasing online
74
38
16
67
43
15
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
Convenient Cheaper Better range of goods/services
% o
f p
ers
on
s 1
8 y
ea
rs a
nd
ove
r pu
rcha
sin
g o
nlin
e
Nov-09
Apr-11
Frequency of online purchase by location in the last six months
52 52 52 52
39
25 26 25 25
27
10 10 10 6
16
13 12 13 16 19
0
20
40
60
80
100
Total Major city Inner regional Outer regional Remote/very remote
% o
f o
nlin
e s
ho
pp
ers
age
d 1
8 y
ea
rs a
nd
ove
r
16+ times
11–15 times
6–10 times
1–5 times
Payment channels used
Used credit card only, 25
Use money transfer (e.g. PayPal)
only, 12
Used credit cards and money transfer
services , 53
Used neither credit card nor money
transfer9%
More likely to be computer based than mobile
97 97
24
2 2
0
10
20
30
40
50
60
70
80
90
100
Jun-10 Jun-11
% o
f p
eo
ple
age
d 1
8 y
ea
rs a
nd
ove
r p
urc
ha
sin
g o
nlin
e
Computer Mobile Other devices
M-commerce more about banking than online shopping
2
7
13
3
9
19
0
2
4
6
8
10
12
14
16
18
20
Purchased goods or services Paid bills Conducted banking transactions
% o
f m
ob
ile h
an
dse
t in
tern
et u
se
rs a
ge
d 1
8 y
ea
rs a
nd
ove
r
Jun-10 Jun-11
Goods and services purchased online in the last six months
11
13
26
25
37
36
43
42
56
17
18
26
34
42
46
53
53
60
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Food, groceries & alcohol
Communications technology (including mobiles, fax, pagers, etc)
Music (audio)
CDs & DVDs
Audio or video content
Household goods (including furniture, electrical appliances, computer equipment)
Books, magazines & newspapers
Event, concert & movie tickets
Clothing, shoes & personal items (including cosmetics)
Travel goods (including tickets and accommodation)
% of online shoppers aged 18 years and over
Apr-11
Nov-09
Where are Australian’s purchasing from?
68
53
12
19
1929
0
20
40
60
80
100
Six months to November 2009 Six months to April 2011
% o
f o
nlin
e s
ho
pp
ers
age
d 1
8 y
ea
rs a
nd
ove
r
Australia and overseas equally
Most often overseas
Most often Australia
Why overseas?
8
13
56
41
1
2
3
5
15
41
59
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70
Shipping costs don't worry me
International brands are more reliable/better quality
Don’t know
Other
More variety of products
Not available in Australia
It’s cheaper
% of online shoppers aged 18 years and over mainly shopping on overseas websites
Apr-11
Nov-09
Summing up
> The majority of Australian use the internet only a daily
basis.
> Australian are going online to facilitate everyday social
and economic activities (convenience, time and cost
saving).
> Organisations are having to adapt to this growing
online consumer base through innovation in online
service delivery.
> The growth in online transaction services will continue
to be a key driver of online participation.
>>
Reporting activities over the next few months:
> Release of the annual ACMA Communications report
2010–11.
> Release of complementary reports examining
convergence and digital economy issues:
> Report 1—E-commerce Marketplace in Australia:
Online Shopping
> Report 2—Converging communications channels:
Preferences and behaviours of Australian
communication users
> Report 3—The emerging mobile
telecommunications market in Australia.
>>
The ACMA Communications report 2010–11 and related
reports will be accessible from engage.acma.gov.au.
