Insightful articles, opinion and commentary about mobile and web.

Currently, high street icons are way behind the curve in meeting their customers’ mobile expectations - yet Forrester expects that by the end of 2012, most noteworthy Australian online retail websites will be optimized for mobile (up from 20% of all sites today) or complemented by mobile apps (up from 6% today).

In this podcast, Simon van Wyk talks to Paul Marshall former executive general manager, Digital Innovation at Salmat and former executive general manager at Lasoo about the enormous opportunity that mobile presents to retailers and how to meet the needs of increasingly mobile-savvy shoppers.

 

 The State of Australian Retail from your Mobile: Play Now | Play in Popup | Download

Data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week showed desperately soft retail spending in December last year on the back of lacklustre trade during November. The figures didn’t surprise anyone and only serve to underline the gloom enveloping the Australian retail sector.

But it’s not as if consumers aren’t spending. You see, online commerce is alive and well and growing exponentially. Forrester predicts that Australian online retail sales are set to balloon from $16.9 billion in 2009 to A$33.3 billion in 2015. So rather than soft consumer sentiment and worries over the global economy, I think Australian retail is being held back by a lack of foresight and innovation.

Australian consumers are enjoying renewed spending power and choice and Australian retailers need to play catch up. They also need to wake up to the consumer shift to mobile everything as shoppers increasingly use mobile devices like smartphones and iPads while they shop. According to Forrester, Australian smartphone users purchase an item every four seconds through eBay’s mobile apps.

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Toyota’s website has been ranked among the top 10 business websites in Australia by the Australian Institute of Management’s Management Today Magazine.

The top 10 were selected for their use of online technologies and having an online presence that both enhances and expands their brand.

As well as the wealth of content, functionality and product detail presented on the Toyota website, Toyota’s vehicle comparison tool was singled out as market leading. Useful and easy to use, the tool provides users with the ability to quickly compare models based on a handful of specifications such as body and engine type, number of seat and fuel economy, power and towing capacity. There’s also a more comprehensive version which is also a cinch to use.

HotHouse has strategically managed Toyota’s online presence for more than ten years. As well as the car comparison tool, HotHouse also connected Toyota’s car configurator to the supply chain which was a world first.

HotHouse will be discussing mobile at this year’s Red Rock Oracle Leadership Forum for IT professionals which will be held in Sydney on 8th March.

This is one-day conference covers all aspects of Oracle applications and technologies, and HotHouse will focus on WebCentre technologies expertise and how to manage and mobilise content.

The explosion of mobile usage offers big opportunities. But to appeal to mobile users and take advantage of this space, businesses need to provide mobile optimised websites.

IT professionals across the country will be required to implement mobile platforms to support their business. But where do you start? How do you overcome the mass fragmentation and how do you leverage your existing infrastructure and investment?

In our presentation, we’ll give you the facts and figures of a rapidly mobile nation.

We’ll talk through the issues of delivering optimised content across a confusingly fragmented landscape of devices and operating systems.

We’ll show you how you can leverage your existing investment in WebCentre technologies.

As a sponsor of the Leadership Forum, HotHouse has 10 complementary passes to give away. If you’re a HotHouse client and would like to go to this year’s event, please get in touch with Victoria Kerr on 02 9432 3600 or enquiries@hothouse.com.au.