While there is a mixed bag of local e-tailers who do and do not offer products to overseas customers, Australian research company Global Reviews found that most of the major players don't export overseas, whereas -it's fairly rare for an SME not to," the company said.
The reason for this is fairly cut and dry, according to Global Reviews director Adir Shiffman, and it comes in the form of credit card fraud.
-Big companies are a target for credit card fraud," Shiffman said. The larger organisations run their Web sites on automated systems, which are more likely to overlook a fraudulent transaction due to the sheer size of orders which come in on a daily basis. Whereas, a smaller company is more likely to invest the time to double check transactions.
Shiffman added that most SMEs have hands-on systems rather than automated ones, which enables the company to pick up "strange" orders.
The majority of the big online retailers are focusing more on the local landscape rather than reaching out to an international customer-base because the market has not reached its full capacity in Australia, according to Shiffman.
Australia is a very attractive market for the United States and the United Kingdom due to the significant difference in currency, however, according to Shiffman the risk is too high for the big players to export their products.
-In regards to credit card fraud, it's easier to take action locally, logistically its very hard to track fraud overseas," he said.
Some of the bigger Australian players that do not have Web sites set up for international customers to purchase products include: David Jones, E-Store--which is one of the largest pure-play e-tailers, Harris Technology (a division of e-ColesMyer), Harvey Norman, Just Jeans, Officeworks and Wishlist.
