Research sheds light on the Australian e-commerce consumer journey

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The e-commerce boom of the last two years has been felt across the globe, and the Australian market is no exception. If last year felt slightly less volatile than the one before it, it might be because business owners and markets as a whole have learned to keep a finger on the pulse of change and respond quickly.

There has been a wealth of research carried out in an attempt to shed light on the rapidly changing e-commerce landscape. One recent study by ChannelAdvisor and Dynata surveyed over 1000 Australian consumers about their current shopping habits and how they expect these habits to change in the near future.

As you might expect, the research shows Australians are doing more of their shopping online than they were before the pandemic. In fact, many of these Australian shoppers expect their online shopping to increase in 2022.

Among the consumers surveyed, 49 per cent predict they will shop online in the future more than before the pandemic. This is slightly lower than the 53 per cent of US respondents who said the same, but higher than the global average of 42 per cent.

What is really interesting – and potentially useful for brands and retailers – is the shopping journey that Australian consumers now take. 

More Australian consumers are using multiple platforms

According to a recent consumer survey, consumers access various channels throughout their buying journey. For example, over half of consumers surveyed said that they researched products on Google, Ebay and Amazon in the past 12 months. Of particular interest is the age makeup of these findings, with 64 per cent of 18-25-year-olds stating they had researched products on Instagram, 67 per cent of 26-35-year-olds saying they had researched products on Facebook, and 60 per cent of 18-25-year-olds stating that they had “discovered” products they had purchased on a social media site.

Across all age groups, price was the main factor when it came to deciding on the final purchase, with 79 per cent of respondents saying this was one of the biggest influences. The next biggest factor after price was availability, at 55 per cent.

Customer reviews were another important factor, with 59 per cent of 18-25-year-olds citing them as a dominant factor when making their purchase. And 68 per cent of all respondents said they read reviews from multiple sources before deciding if a product is right for them.

More considered, tech-savvy online shoppers

One of the key takeaways of this study is that Australian consumers are doing more research before they buy. Using a greater variety of channels to get the products they want at the lowest prices, consumers have become more familiar and comfortable shopping through online channels over the last two years. 

For brands and retailers, this means that the best marketing strategy will be a multichannel approach. By optimising their listings across multiple channels, brands can increase their chances of catching a shopper’s attention during all stages of the consumer journey.

Like the significant pivot towards online shopping that occurred in 2020, the growing complexity of consumer journeys will require reorientation on the part of businesses. Those who adapt quickly will be the ones better positioned for long-term success.

About the author: Helen de Souza is Senior Marketing Manager, APAC, with ChannelAdvisor.