“On 24 September 2014, the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (with support from the Adelaide City Council) hosted a rare line-up of eCommerce industry heavyweights to give South Australian retailers a glimpse at the future of retail and how they can make online work for them.” eBay Mainstreet
Since I have apparently graduated to digital heavyweight I thought I should probably share the great takeaways I got from the session.
Unfortunately an early breakfast meeting meant I missed the beginning of the event when Russell Zimmerman of the Australian Retailers Association, Paul Greenberg of the National Online Retailers Association gave some fantastic insights and set the scene for the future of retail.
But was lucky enough to get there in time to hear Tim Davies of eBay Australia talking about the power of eBay to grow your online sales. It was fascinating to hear the 67% of us start shopping on one device and finish shopping on another. Whilst it would seem straight forward some of the best advice Tim Gave was:
#poweringecom value, clear info, confidence, tracking, fast and free delivery, COMMUNICATIONS we are an instant gratification world
— Simone Douglas (@SimoneDouglasSM) September 24, 2014
It is also interesting to note how many Australian eBay stores export.
@NORA_aus 78% of eBay businesses export ( to 28 countries ) @eBay_Academy pic.twitter.com/T6jvxvbE6B — Paul Greenberg (@PaulsChirps) September 24, 2014
Brian McDonnell of PayPal Australia ran through some fascinating insights into online and it’s place in the world of retail including Modern Spice routes – you can download PayPals Global fact sheet here. Great stuff. Paul Vallen of The Muses was great sharing a candid story of his and Tori’s journey into the world of online retail warts and all.
#poweringecom vinyls back baby – just in time model key to online success mitigates risk
— Simone Douglas (@SimoneDouglasSM) September 24, 2014
Apart from a candid insight into what it takes to be successful he also shared some of the tools that helped them get there including Terapeak and Channel Advisor definitely worth checking out. But he also highlighted the importance of listening to your customers and letting them decide what they want (getting all your inventory online).
“You must tell your story, get people’s buy-in to your company’s history & development” @SimoneDouglasSM #online #retail #startup — Xped Arduino (@XpedArduino) October 1, 2014
My two cents worth was geared towards what makes an online or an offline retail business successful in the social space, the power of story telling and my favourite platforms f0r growing your digital community around your brand.
@SimoneDouglasSM @eBayAU mobile and social are so important for a retailer capitalizing on online #poweringecom
— Sam Monaghan (@MonosEcom) September 24, 2014
For the record my top picks were; Pinterest, Instagram, Facebook, Twitter and of course YouTube. In finishing I think it’s important to understand that Social Media is “Social” so…
Simone Douglas “The people who are successful on Social Media are the ones who are friendly & outgoing in real life” @SimoneDouglasSM — Xped Arduino (@XpedArduino) September 25, 2014
