Online shopping heating up in Australia

I can think of nothing worse than getting trapped in a car park and fighting traffic, queues and thousands of people when I am just trying to purchase something from a shop. This is one very strong motivation of mine to change to online shopping for more and more items. There are no queues, there is no traffic and everything apart from actually getting the product is instant. I may or may not save any money in the process.

It is good to see that online retailers are competing well with traditional retailers in Australia and a case in point is the online electronics retailer Kogan. Kogan has been on the scene for the past few years in Australia and has been trying to make a name for itself. The business model for Kogan is simple. They import cheaper electronics from overseas and sell them online badged as their own. Ruslan Kogan the founder of Kogan is a savvy business man and is constantly getting under the skin of the more traditional electronics retailers in Australia. Good on Kogan for having a go and making a name for himself and I am following his journey closely. It must be hard to balance the price, quality and service to make it a viable business option.

Online retailers however have to be careful with their angle. It seems that they are all saying that the traditional retailers have got it wrong. They treat the traditional retailers as though they are a cartel that has been formulated to rip off and mislead the public. Online retailers use their price point to push this issue. This is just a marketing scheme and don't fall for it. By all means if the actual price you pay for a widget is your main motivation then buy the cheapest one you can find. Be prepared to pay for quality though wherever you find it. Quality however does not end with the actual unit but extends to the support you will receive after the fact. If you buy a cheap television online then it will be delivered in no time at all and you can start watching it and save a bit of cash in the process. Once your television breaks however, what support is provided to you?

What the public has to realise about online and traditional retailers is that this fight has been around even before the internet. Things like mail order purchases were around well before the internet and survived beside the larger chains. There is a place for both the traditional and online retailers and both of them should be concentrating more on the service provided to the customer and the quality of the unit sold. The main thing I concern myself with when purchasing anything is the advice supplied by the sales person. I would pay extra for good advice. How about you?