COMMENTARY--Where have all the local online retailers gone?Two things struck me while I was finishing off my Christmas shopping the other day. Firstly, it was a pity there weren't any stores around selling personal flamethrowers, because they'd make a killing just on selling the fuel. That's probably not a thought I should have written down, now that I think about it. The second thought that struck me was that online retailing is still effectively dead in this country, and that's a real shame given our peculiar geography (and the fact that I personally hate wandering around shopping centres being jostled by passing people with interesting theories on body odour control mechanisms.)
Australia should be an absolute haven for online retailers; it's got to be easier to stock and ship to personal addresses than to every broad corner of this country. Aussies are amongst the world's leaders when it came to adoption of the Internet and indeed any new technology. Heck, Australia should be an absolute haven for online retailers based purely on the fact that Aussies love to rack up obscene quantities of credit on their plastic cards without ever thinking about that grim day when they'll have to pay it all back.
But if you look around at where Australians are shopping online, it's predominantly American and European online stores, because they're mostly the ones that have remained standing in the post dot-com bust world. Sure, there are some advantages to buying overseas -- availability of product and whatnot -- but surely it shouldn't be impossible for an enterprising Australian retailer to pick up some of the money that's floating around?
Instead, all that can be seen is the charred wreckage of some once-major retailers, a few bricks and mortar stores that have either dipped their toes into online retailing and just as quickly retreated with a few million dollars worth of scalding, or the odd DVD retailer, all of whom oddly seem to be branching out into bricks and mortar stores. In fact, it was in one of those now-physical DVD stores that my flamethrower thoughts came to bear. Perhaps there's something meaningful there.
What do you think? Is Australian online retailing doomed, and if so, why? Have you had good or bad experiences buying from local online retailers, and how did it compare to the international big names? Let me know at edit@zdnet.com.au.
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recently bought an Atrac3plus walkman.Dont bother people!! Although i can download and copy my own cds,Sonys connect store,specifically for A3P downloads will only take US,European or Japanese credit cards.So basically the online music markets offline for any one silly enough to buy Sony!Great customer support guys!The Sony site wouldnt even take my complaint without an american address!And these guys are so-called world leaders in tech.Back to making alarm clocks you clowns!