Over 40 per cent of retailers are set to increase technology budgets in the next twelve months in a move to meet changes in consumer behaviour for online and mobile retail sales, according to the inaugural CommBank Retail Insights report.
Consumers are remaining highly selective and loyal to their brand, with more than 90 per cent of online shoppers transacting with just three or fewer brands each quarter.
Online retailing not only boost sales with strong websites and great products, it also offers a broader product range that can be easily found with effective search engine optimisation.
For Food & Liquor retailers, the shift towards online sales has been relatively slow in comparison to other industries. 41 per cent of businesses surveyed in the report had no online presence with multichannel retailers while 28 per cent only had between 1-10 per cent overall sales from online orders.
Multichannel retailers have experienced higher growth than their online-only competitors, indicating that customers could be inclined to search online for physical retailers that they are already familiar with.
Most Australian online retailers remain focused on the domestic market, with only 21 per cent generating sales offshore. Food and Beverage retailers aim to capture a greater share of offshore customers by investing in initiatives to localise offers included discounted food delivery and advertising produce on local websites.