A study by Frost & Sullivan discovered that Australians spent $12 billion online in 2010 but 40% of that spending took place on overseas sites. And while smaller, independent stores have capitalised on their opportunity to assemble an online presence, they only counted for 3% of local retailers. The report showed that reluctance from large retail chains and department stores to adapt to eCommerce consequently hindered online spending opportunities and forced customers overseas.

Phil Harpur, Senior Reseach Manager at Frost & Sullivan says, “The number of Australians using international sites confirms that there is a large untapped potential for retailers to develop a local online customer base.”

With online spending in Australia anticipated to tip $33 billion by 2015, there is little other incentive for Australian retailers to get online. Many local boutique stores however, have taken the leap, gathering momentum from their devoted native following and supplementing their bricks-and-mortar store online. With celebrities also possessing a penchant for Aussie brands and local designers, models and actors becoming more prevalent overseas, the online health of their site is boosted.

Katy Perry, Rihanna and Kim Kardashian step out in Aussie threads Wheels & Dollbaby, We Are Handsome and Sass & Bide. Miranda Kerr interviews in Ginger & Smart and Mad Men's Christina Hendricks is dazzling in Johanna Johnson.

It is getting to a stage where online retail is actually successfully competing with physical stores for sales. Brad Howarth recognises that with competitors literally a click away, keeping on top of eBoutique technology is essential. In fact, three quarters of Australia’s online retailers plan to increase their investment in technology in the following year, spending more on core systems, mobile solutions, back office integration, and multichannel retail strategies.

So as online retail continues to increase, it is also important to tend to your online customers with as much care as if they were in a physical store. People are much more able to move away from your site and go somewhere else they can get the service and product they require. Zendesk has analysed the leap in online spending and warns businesses that customer support is essential to maintain a loyal following.

This leaves parents with no room to escape the inevitable task of testing out now shrunken school uniforms on their children and trying to schedule in a suitable uniform shop visit around a busy work or child-laden day.

Thankfully, in this digital age, parents that are time poor or simply lacking the much-needed motivation to stand in queue at a small uniform shop are now able to purchase all of their school uniform needs online.

Pickles School Wear has been successfully supplying both public and private schools with schoolwear and accessories for over 30 years. Now, they offer their uniforms online. youruniformshop.com.au allows you to select your school, and browse through the full catalogue of uniform items.

Additionally, Pickles offer the opportunity for schools to organise their uniform shop through their website. A “perfect compromise between a parent/volunteer run uniform shop and a totally out-sourced shop” which means schools continue to benefit financially and keep control of their uniform program.

This allows schools to provide a professional retail service and hold a large quantity of stock offsite as well as increasing the opportunity for sales, extending beyond normal shopfront hours.

Parents are able to shop with ease and the option to have items delivered directly to their child’s classroom supplements economical Australia Post deliveries.

To check if your school is part of the Pickles network, go to youruniformshop.com.au and select from the drop down menu, or if you would like your school to be contacted to discuss organising an online uniform shop, submit an enquiry or call (02) 9905 2711. Alternatively, go to the Niche website to find out how an eBoutique can extend your business.

As we wrap up the end of another year, many large retailers are praying that the Christmas and New Year shopping period will provide a much needed boost to their annual sales, offering bigger discounts than ever to kick-start spending. SmartCompany indentifies some key changes to expect in retail selling next year.

Predicting an increase in collapses, more takeovers, decline in employment and an infiltration of international giants (a highly publicised immigration by Zara, Topshop and hints regarding H&M’s movements) the news for department stores and large retailers spells out a retail downturn.

However, it is not all doom and gloom, especially for small businesses. Landlords are offering cheaper rent and shorter lease agreements on prime retail turf, allowing the independent retailer to snap up prime selling locations such as Chapel Street in Melbourne and Sydney’s Oxford Street. In this case, the small retailer is actually opened up to a greater market share with other already established brands in the same area.

We have become increasingly time poor and the key for any retailer is to adopt a strong online presence. Big businesses have not anticipated this trend and smaller companies have lead the way. An investigation by ANZ discovered that non-store based retail employment increased by 40% during the year, and wholesale also lifted promisingly. The soar in online investment is easy to understand and retailers without an online presence are starting to feel left behind.

If you are already online and need a more functional webiste, or if you are considering taking your business online, check out the Niche Web demo shopping cart. Our specialised wholesale or retail online shop is specific for the fashion industry. With the TCF Grant now open for application, the government funded $50,000 can be used to develop an eBoutique, implement training or upgrade your existing point of sale technology. Niche has assisted numerous businesses through the application process, all part of helping you to stress less and sell more. For more details on the TCF Grant, contact kim@nichefashion.com.au or go to our website.

While Niche makes simplifying fashion technology a priority, it doesn’t stop us from getting excited about the sport-filled summer ahead. It will be Niche BabyPOS’s Big Test.

Velocity Brand Management is a valued client of Niche Fashion. Overseeing the licensing and promotion of major sports brands, VBM have successfully implemented our BabyPOS system. With a user friendly interface and the capabilities to process multiple stores, brands and currencies, BabyPOS is the perfect fit for VBM.

VBM are responsible for developing the licensing and branding for numerous high profile and sustainable programs across the globe. By looking after ‘brand leasing’, Velocity ensure that everything from quality product development, market segmentation and brand recognition are ‘official’ and unique. VBM say, “It is critical that licensed product reflects the core brand and becomes the tangible manifestation of that brand.” With this high level of brand commitment, VBM has secured partnerships with many international clients, including Cricket Australia, NRL, Rugby World Cup and the Hyundai A-League, to name a few.

While the Australian Cricket team had an emphatic victory over New Zealand at the Gabba recently, the Aussies were not the only winners. Velocity debuted eight BabyPOS systems, successfully completing nearly 2000 transactions during the test match. With a peak of 150 transactions per hour, BabyPOS proved to be a simple, highly efficient system to use.

BabyPOS is designed to be an undemanding point of sale system, catering for a variety of business sizes and styles. It has been created with the inexperienced computer user in mind, and as staff will easily pick up the system. BabyPOS ensures less administration, quicker turnaround and more sales for your business. In addition to this, BabyPOS is capable of full integration with our Niche Garments and Niche Retail applications. With 18 years of experience in the fashion industry, Niche makes certain that you will have the right technology and advice to help you sell more, stress less and stay ahead.

Find out more about BabyPOS at: http://www.fashionsoftware.com.au/pages/technology.php

Researchers have found that more Australians are shopping on international sites because it offers more competitive prices. The world is more global and closer than ever, making it possible to buy online cheaper, with more options while receiving the product quickly. For this reason, Australian businesses need to buckle up and fight for their market because Australians would rather buy locally to support their country and domestic produce while feeling better about exchanging garments or goods if the seller was local. But the Australians brands, at the moment are not keeping up with their international competitors.

According to ACMA (Australian Communications and Media Authorities) these changes and advancements have occurred online:

• greater use by businesses of group buying and social media as online shopping channels to complement traditional shopfront services
• increased revenues from online shopping channels
• more purchases being made online by Australian consumers
• a significant shift to overseas websites for online purchasing
• increased use of mobile or m-commerce, with banking and bill payment activities dominating
• A decline in the proportion of people reporting lack of trust in the internet as a barrier to purchasing online.

Furthermore, online social networking has influenced buying decisions because social media consists of real people with real experiences. Therefore it is imperative for retailers to impress because people will talk and their opinion is there for others to read.

Excerpt from the Sydney Morning Herald:

ACMA chairman, Chris Chapman, said 62 per cent of Australia’s adult internet users bought goods and services online in the six months to April, with convenience and price being the main drivers of online shopping.

“’This research suggests that consumer confidence about making online transactions is growing and Australian businesses have a real opportunity to develop their businesses and engage with consumers in the online space,” he said.

A study also found that internet users living in remote areas were among the most prolific online shoppers, with 70 per cent buying goods online, compared with 63 per cent of web users in the major cities.

And the higher their income, the more likely a consumer was to have shopped online, with 86 per cent of internet users with annual incomes of $150,000 or more having shopped online in the study period, compared with 46 per cent of those with incomes of less than $50,000.

As consumer behaviour changes according to technological advancements and the times, retailers and businesses should cater to the growing market. Australian Retailers’ Association (ARA) president Russell Zimmerman said that growth in online retailing, which makes up about five to six per cent of total sales in Australia, was leading to large shifts in the industry.

“As speed of delivery becomes better and there’s more competition in that area within the parcel delivery service, I think we’ll see internet retailing evolve and become stronger and change its direction,” Mr Zimmerman said.

By serving your customers well, you will find that they will return to shop with you again because people love feeling valued. Free shipping, faster parcel delivery, good returns policy are all ways to enhance your business.

Just recently, Australia Post cited growth in online shopping as the major driver behind its increase in annual profit, while traditional mail volumes declined. The government-owned corporation predicts online spending on its delivery services will double over the next five years, with parcel revenue tipped to reach almost $2 billion by 2015.

“There will be consumers who will want to buy from local suppliers rather than from overseas to get that certainty that they can return the item… and there are people that feel that buying from Australia now, you are probably fairly right giving your credit card numbers,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Some bricks and mortar stores were reinventing themselves by moving completely online and cutting costs, while others had embraced multi-channel retailing. Australia Post chief executive Ahmed Fahour said an 11 per cent annual increase in parcel volumes was likely to continue as online retailing in Australia grew at a “rapid rate”.

Official retail figures released earlier this month show retail spending rose 0.6 per cent in August. It contrasts with the grim outlook painted by retailers during earnings season last month. The future is looking bright for retail, so work to make sure that your business stays on top of the competition. Scope out your market and cater to them, there is no one size fits all technique.

The Movember Effect has changed the face of men’s health. Two of the biggest health issues men face areprostate cancer and depression. The funds raised are directed to the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia and beyondblue: the national depression initiative.

Since its humble beginnings in Melbourne Australia, Movember has grown to become a truly global movement inspiring more than 1.1 Million Mo Bros and Mo Sistas to participate, with formal campaigns in Australia, New Zealand, the US, Canada, the UK, Finland, the Netherlands, Spain, South Africa and Ireland. No matter the country or city, Movember will continue to work to change established habits and attitudes men have about their health, to educate men about the health risks they face, getting them to act on that knowledge, thereby increasing the chances of early detection, diagnosis and effective treatment.

In 2010, over 130,000 Australian Mo Bros and Sistas got on board, raising $25 Million AUD.

Here are some fast facts about men’s health:

• The average life expectancy for men is five years less than women (presently 77 years old compared to 82)
• 1 in 3 men will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime
• Every hour more than 5 men die prematurely in Australia from potentially preventable illnesses
• Four times as many men commit suicide compared with women
• Almost twice as many Australian men die of skin cancer than women, the fourth most common cancer among men
• Every cigarette you smoke takes 8 minutes off your life. Smoking a pack per day for 20 years reduces your life by 13 years
• A man’s life span is affected by genetics (24%) and modifiable risk factors (75%)
• Men account for 70% of alcohol related deaths
• One-third of men have not seen a doctor in the past year. 10% have not seen one for five years
• More than two thirds of Australian men are overweight or obese – increasing their chances of developing many diseases
• Each year in Australia, close to 3,300 men die of prostate cancer – equal to the number of women who die from breast cancer annually. Around 20,000 new cases are diagnosed in Australia every year

Niche has a Mo-Team that believes in this initiative and wants your support. Please donate to our Mobro page to make a difference. The donations are tax deductable and goes a long way.

And some epic, inspiring moustaches:

While consumers have always looked out for special offers and discounts, new technologies and services mean that things are more competitive than ever.

More consumers are constantly connected, and when they hear about new deals online can quickly and easily spread them through their social networks.

• Increasingly, consumers will be part of exclusive networks or groups to either receive special deals or demand them.
• Mobile devices increasingly enable consumers to find or receive dynamic deals right at the point of sale, or to compare prices online. Case in point: Amazon.com just released an iPhone app that allows users to compare prices by scanning the product’s barcode, photographing it or saying its name.

Trend Watching have observed that the culture of being ‘always connected’ has changed the consumer’s spending habits in a myriad ways. Finding bargains online is a near effortless activity. Furthermore, whipping out one’s smart phone at the counter, getting the latest deal via GPS, or barcode scanning is well, smart. And therefore a source of status rather than shame, like the days where you would cut out little newspaper clippings to get 10% of a blouse.

Brands will continue to respond with a host of innovative new business models and pricing strategies in the next 12 months, building on:

• Group buying– The two billion consumers now online can exercise their collective buying power, helped by the host of services and social networks that make it easier than ever to organise and act.
• Member sales – The old ‘club’ format (think of Costco) has been given a new lease on life online, where niche communities thrive. Making some memberships limited or invitation-only, only increases the perceived exclusivity. Consumers can enjoy the social aspects of shopping, while getting reduced prices and the brand is building a strong base of buyers. Designer fashion brands were some of the first to offer heavily discounted ranges to select groups.
• Flash sales– Both groups and member communities frequently use time-limited offers that encourage impulse buys. By limiting the time available and frequently only making sales available to members, brands are able to shift excess inventory quickly. Brands have utilised Twitter and Facebook to declare big sales therefore the followers are privy to these discounts. It gives people an incentive to ‘follow’ or ‘like’ them.
• Local discounts – With more and more consumers being able to broadcast their location, either publicly via Facebook, Twitter or other dedicated location-based services, brands can offer deals directly to consumers virtually at the point of sale.

As they move towards tomorrow, we are excited to be a part of their journey. Click here to do some shopping from their latest spring/summer line – http://www.biird.com.au/

Here are some of Miss Jane’s favourites for this hot Aussie summer!

One of the benefits of a LinkedIn account is that it ranks highly on Google searches; this is a good way to influence what people see when they search for you. Therefore if people search for your company, they can be led to your account and find recommendations from people that have worked with you and a list of your services and specialties. The recommendations tool is invaluable and beneficial for your company. Other companies are able to document their business partnership with you thus gaining credibility for your company on a more genuine level than standard sales blurb on your website. It provides a real way of interacting with current clients and exposes you to new prospective business partners. The internet has made it easy for people to shop around, they want to see that the product works and why they should commit to it.

You can engage with greater audiences by following groups that are related to you and engaging in conversation. LinkedIn Answers allows you to broadcast your business-related questions to both your network and the greater LinkedIn network. The premise is that you will get more high-value responses from the people in your network than more open forums.

Blogtrepreneur writer says “it is important to optimise your visibility if you want to use LinkedIn for your benefit. Make sure that you treat your profile as if it were your resume or CV. Don’t skimp on any of the details and fill out your profile as carefully as you would write a resume for distribution. To add to your visibility insert your profile’s URL within your e-mail signature, allowing you to break ice more effectively when you mail some new business prospect or other professional. Add as many connections as you possibly can and work on your network membership to increase your footprint as much as possible. Your aim should be to appear as high as you can on the list of search results relevant to your specialty.”

LinkedIn represents a valuable demographic for marketers with an affluent & influential membership. Moreover, thousands of developers are using LinkedIn APIs to create innovative tools and services for professionals. The value of social media lies in where people are and what they are doing with it. As more and more people and companies jump on LinkedIn, then you should follow suit because that is a free space for you to utilise.

Connect with Niche Fashion here and if you have done business with us or use our products, please write us a recommendation.