Martin Shaw, Head of Research at RetailX, shares insight into the initial findings of the inaugural Australia 250 research report.
RetailX – part of InternetRetailing – has launched the first ever performance-based, objective and comprehensive ranking of the highly competitive Australian retail market. Following a similar research methodology to the established IRUK Dimension Reports, the RetailX Australia (AU250) report, produced in partnership with Oracle + Bronto , measures retailers from the consumer’s perspective using hundreds of different metrics rather than providing a focus on traditional metrics such as revenue. Specifically, the report takes into consideration the significance of each company with regards to web traffic (the share of activity online), company revenues (both online and through bricks and mortar stores), and the store estate (combining close-to-customer service capabilities and local brand fascia).
Millions of Australian consumers buy from thousands of companies that range from niche and locality retailers to giants of global ecommerce. Despite the lack of tariffs and legal barriers to trade, companies operating in this market face the challenge of distance and fulfilment with low population density.
With Amazon launching an Australian site in December 2017, RetailX can reveal some of the key findings from the research:
-A disproportionate share of web traffic (35%) goes to the fewer than 20 marketplaces within the Top250;
-There is, however, growing room compared to other markets with 50% of web traffic share in the UK and in the European Single Market as a whole, and greater than 50% in ASEAN, going to marketplaces compared to the other Top500 retailers in those regions
-At the same time, Amazon is already one of the top five ecommerce retailers in Australia, as measured by web traffic share. However, over 75% of Australian web traffic to Amazon went to amazon.com (pre-launch of general merchandise sales on amazon.com.au in December 2017.) This suggests that Australian consumers in general may be receptive to the Amazon model.
Whether the Australian market is set to be dominated by marketplace websites in much the same way as markets in Europe and South East Asia have seen, or whether Amazon’s late arrival has given the local industry enough time to develop its own convenient, cheap and reliable alternatives remains to be seen.
In compiling the RetailX Australia (AU250) report, the retail team has taken an algorithmic approach to blending and ranking the four components of a retailer’s Footprint: its amount of web traffic, retail revenue, ecommerce revenue, and the company’s total number of physical locations. Abdul Jaafar, General Manager – Supply Chain at Fantastic Furniture said: “It’s a clear, transparent and unbiased insight into the wonderful world of retail and what we can learn from either innovation of what others are doing around Australia.” He explained that a retailer can learn from “comparing their own business to others, looking at sophisticated tools that are readily available to improve their respective businesses and also opens up good conversation about next steps.” Dean Salakas, Chief Party Dude at The Party People, said: “The Top 250 report gives great insight into the retailers with the biggest retail presence in Australia. All retailers can learn from each other and this report allows us to understand the common characteristics of major retailers in Australia.”
RetailX will be tracking developments in the coming months and analysing web traffic to see whether, and by how much, these metrics change. The research team is always interested in feedback and comments in developing the reports further. To share feedback or for further information on the AU250, please get in touch with the research team at research@retailx.net or register at http://etail.li/RXupdates. The first AU250 Footprint Report is available for download from http://etail.li/AU250.
