It is predicted that it will take another 4 years till young web savvy people master ho large businesses work
Why small retailers can thrive online
Posted November 01, 2010 | By Sonia Nair
Smaller retailers who are online are grasping the medium much faster than their larger counterparts, an online retail study has shown.
Robert Wong, chairman of the Retail Industry Group which is part of the Australian Interactive Media Industry Association (AIMIA) conducted the research and said fewer layers of operation and management meant smaller retailers were better placed to work effectively online.
“They can move quicker because they do not have the whole supply chain attachment as well as the conflicts with marketing and management,” he said.
“Smaller retailers who are online are more in touch with their market and they can monitor their websites on a daily basis to see what needs to be done.”
Wong said bigger retailers often have to wait months before receiving feedback from a senior level.
Although the Retail Industry Group research shows that smaller retailers are better placed to thrive online, only 27 per cent of small businesses in Australia have a website according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics.
Online talent drought
The Retail Industry Group research also revealed that large retailers – which represent 43 per cent of the total number of retailers in Australia – plan to embrace e-commerce in the next 12 to 18 months.
This will result in increased demand for online retail experts, according to Wong. Coupled with a national dearth in talented online professionals, this could adversely impact smaller retailers.
“There are 300 top retailers and all of them are looking to have an e-commerce presence in the next few months.”
Larger retailers will have the resources to snap up the limited talent pool, forcing smaller retailers to hire less experienced people or travel overseas to seek talent.
However, Wong highlighted the lack of online talent in Australia as a serious problem that will affect all retailers in the next two years, but especially luxury retailers where the parity of the Australian dollar will prompt many consumers to look overseas for quality items.
“There is a huge knowledge gap internally,” he warned.
“A large percentage of the online talent pool out there do not have the operational talent to run a business and they do not understand how large businesses work.”
Wong said a lot of the web savvy developers had very specialised knowledge as opposed to a holistic understanding of e-commerce.
“A person might know social media or email marketing but may not understand the whole context of selling online or e-commerce store merchandising,” he explained.
Although younger people are more web savvy, Wong said there is a huge divide between them and older management structures that had worked the retail model successfully.
Wong predicted it will be another four years before young web professionals are business savvy enough to grasp e-commerce principles.
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