Australian etailers looking for technology change

Stephen Withers
Monday, 23 August 2010 09:19

Business IT - Technology

A new report suggests Australian online retailers aren't happy with the technology platform they are using.

New research from Forrester shows that 50% of Australian online retailers are planning to change their eCommerce platforms within two years. But mobile access is not a priority for most of the companies responding to the survey.

The main problem cited by Forrester is that retailers have tended to choose an eCommerce platform without realising how much sales growth would occur, and they are now running into the limitations of the originally selected software.

Opinions were quite evenly divided on the question of conventionally licensed software vs on-demand, with 51% favouring the former. Forrester predicts growing acceptance of open source eCommerce software by midsized online retailers, and also notes that some retailers (eg dStore and Kogan) value the flexibility and control provided by homegrown software.

Other areas attracting investment during the coming year include content management tools and the integration of the eCommerce platform with back-end systems such as ERP.

Interestingly, the visual feature most often nominated as having the greatest impact on sales was the provision of multiple pictures. This was chosen by 46% of respondents, compared with 15% for video. Other facilities such as 3D views or interactive demos were even less well regarded.

What about etailing to mobile users? See page 2.