1. Australian Ecommerce market Revenue in 2020 US$27,285m
  2. It has been predicted that the compound annual growth rate (CAGR 20-24) for the next four years will be 6%. Compared to the year-over-year growth of 22%,
  3. The five largest categories in E-commerce Australia are: Fashion (26% of total revenue in Australia) Food & Personal Care (26%), Toys, Hobby & DIY (19%) Electronics & Media (18%) and Furniture & Appliances (11%).

Australia encapsulates the 7th largest e-commerce market in the entire world, with total revenues predicted to surpass USD $32B by 2024- representing a year to year increase of over 15%.

The Australian eCommerce market has significantly contributed towards the worldwide growth rate of 26% (2020). The sector has seen a prolific number of new markets emerge, a trend which is predicted to continue to increase as a result of the expanding middle class populations that persist within East and Southeast Asia.

Internet, AI Technologies, and Trade

Unequivocally, the introduction and development of the internet and its associated business and AI technologies have irrevocably altered the ways in which trade and business is conducted.

A study piloted by the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) dove deeper into this issue; correctly mentioning that- in the past, global trade was pragmatically only available for the colossal, global businesses that had an adequate resource pool, marketing budget, and overseas office to employ foreign representatives to handle any domestic disputes that arose.

Nowadays, however, this is definitely not the case. The internet has enabled firms and corporations of practically any size and prominence to reach out to customers and sell their products or services all over the world. This is why e-commerce is commonly labelled as a key economic growth driver. It enhances global innovation and productivity, and reduces both procedural and marketing-related industry fees and costs.

In the last couple of decades, the Asia Pacific Region has been the recipient of significant e-commerce expansion, this has facilitated a plethora of global and regional free trade agreements (primarily FTAs and RTAs).

The most notable of these is the Trans-Pacific Partnership agreement (TPP), which involved 12 APEC members and aimed to ambitiously tackle any existing e-commerce issues so as to help drive the further growth of the sector.

Despite the notable withdrawal of the U.S. following President Trump’s reign, the TPP is likely to significantly affect any future trade negotiations within the APAC region. Participant member countries are currently looking to secure the most advantageous economic atmosphere for themselves in relation to: investor confidence, market ascension, and competitive advantage theory.

Online Business Ideas - Where to start?

This article will now take a quick look at the ample tools and opportunities that are available for Asian and Asia-Pacific e-commerce businesses in 2021.

The Importance of Having an Adequate Website

The benefits of having a website within the e-commerce market are self-explanatory. It allows companies to be ‘present’ to their customers 24/7- significantly increasing their online presence, it increases brand credibility, and allows companies to access markets all over the world. Finally, a business website can serve as a reliable and consistent source of advertisement for your products.

Having a suitable website can also allow business owners to significantly cut down on operational costs. This is because companies can use their website in order to sell their goods and services (on a global extent) and consequently can omit certain costs- such as rental and utility ones.

Saying goodbye to such costs can allow businesses to pass down their reduced costs to their consumers, reducing their prices and increasing their competitive advantage in comparison to their market competitors.

Business owners can additionally rely on their website from an internal standpoint; it can allow them to share classified company information via an internal website, saving a noteworthy amount of time by allowing all company employees to instantly access everything they need, whenever they want.

At the moment, there are a variety of Website Builders available, each providing different pros and cons. TRUiC (The Really Useful Information Company) is one of the most trusted titans in reviewing and comparing the industry: They noted that the Godaddy Website Builder provides easy-to-use, reliable, and customizable settings, and is tailor made to ensure companies can attain an adequate and sufficiently-designed website without needing a massive budget - but that the race between companies means constant re-evaluation is needed. Other notable ones include Wix, Elementor and Shopify.

Final Words: A Post Pandemic Overview

In our current post-COVID-19 economy, ecommerce sales have continued to significantly increase- not only in Australia and in the Asia-Pacific region, but all over the world. The U.S., for example, has seen a 20% rise in sales.

This is because the unprecedented pandemic has sprung new health and safety concerns relating to shopping ‘in person’ for a plethora of individuals. Reportedly, this has resulted in a shift towards online purchasing, and has fueled demand for increased online shopping options (due to their contactless nature).