How to Start an Ecommerce Business in Australia [2023 Guide]
Over the years, the massive transformation of brick-and-mortar stores into ecommerce stores is what depicts the recent ecommerce explosion that is happening globally. From grocery to fashion and apparel, regardless of the industry type, it has become one of the most demanding ways of conducting business across the globe.
A report by Statista indicates that by 2026, ecommerce will be accounted for nearly 25% of total global retail sales.
Ecommerce, short for electric commerce, refers to the activity that allows people to buy and sell products or services online with the help of the internet. With this, businesses no more require retail outlets or maintain physical interaction with the buyers. Instead, what it involves is the process of establishing an online presence.
Why should you have an ecommerce business in Australia?
The ecommerce market in Australia is multiplying. It is one of the largest ecommerce markets in the world, where the revenue is expected to reach USD 32.3 billion by 2024. Even if eligible, the Australian government provides many sorts of initiatives and resources, including tax incentives and grants to support businesses.
So, as an emerging potential channel to expand your market base quickly, do invest in the ecommerce business in Australia. After all, it provides a favourable environment for new businesses to enter the market. It will allow you to get access to a larger market and ultimately raise your revenue. The operational costs will also be minimal compared to a brick-and-mortar business.
A checklist to consider when setting up your ecommerce business:
Conduct market research
In order to understand the target demographics, market condition and competition, conducting proper market research is a crucial step. Later, you can make informed decisions about products, pricing, and marketing, understand the target audience, identify potential competitors, and consider the competitive landscape and emerging trends.
Identify your Target market
In order to reach those audiences who are more likely to convert into customers, you need to define your target market. Because you can’t be all things to all people. Figure out who most want to buy from you, what they think, and know their gender, age range, occupation, culture and interest as well.
Know the location to understand which geographic areas to target. Focus on their spending power and patterns to get an idea of how much money your targeted audiences will be willing to pay. Identify the challenges that your product or service solves for your potential customers.
Understand your competitors
Research and analyse the strengths and weaknesses of existing businesses in your industry to differentiate your business by offering a unique value proportion. Figure out who are your direct competitors with the same offerings as you are planning, how they are sourcing their products, what pricing strategies they are using, how they are converting visitors into customers, how their online store design looks like and many more.
Evaluate your product or service
Evaluate your product or service to analyse the value and potential of your offering in the market and determine the viability and success of your business. Research the market demand. Check the market size and potential growth of your product or service. Evaluate the unique value proportion. Consider the cost of production, regulatory requirements and potential profitability.
Write a perfect business plan
A business plan is that comprehensive written document one needs before starting an ecommerce business to evaluate the industry as well as to determine areas of improvement. It is a brief summary of your business, including the purpose, goals and objectives. By preparing a business plan, you can secure financing while avoiding costly mistakes and get day-to-day operational guidance that will help you to set priorities.
Define your business objectives and goals
Define the “what” and “how” of a business’s purpose to get a general direction on the ways to keep your business on the right track. To specify goals and objectives, begin with your vision for the business and what you wish to achieve. Then set specific, measurable, relevant and time-bound goals based on the relevance and urgency that are in sync with your mission.
Identify your operating costs and budget
Make a spending plan for your business, considering your income and expenses. And to set up a financial goal, identify your capital, estimate your variable spending that varies with the level of business activity, predict your revenue based on the demand for your products and services and regularly monitor to make any necessary adjustments.
Develop a financial plan
By developing a financial plan, you can understand the financial requirements of your business and make informed decisions about growth and expansion. Look at your cash flow statement that details your incoming and outgoing cash to determine whether you have enough to cover your costs. Also, work on the income statement and balance sheet to get a clear view of your income and expenses.
Register and apply for permits and licenses
Depending on your business type, activity and location, licensing and permit requirements may vary. You can check here to figure out the type of licenses and permits you may need.
Business registration
In Australia, when it comes to business registration, you may need to comply with certain rules and regulations. You will need an Australian Business Number (ABN), which is a unique 11-digit number. It eventually identifies your business to the government and community. Also, you need to complete registration for a business name. Use the Australian Government’s Business Registration Service, which combines many business and tax registration in one place.
Register for goods and services tax (GST)
Goods and services tax(GST) is a tax of 10% on most goods, services and other items sold or consumed in Australia. GST is required for any business that has a GST turnover of $75,000 or more. Or if it is a non-profit business, registration for GST has to be done if it has a GST turnover of $1.50,000 or more. So even if you are just about to start your business, if you expect your GST turnover to reach $75,000 in the first year, register for GST.
Other registration
Depending on your business type, your business may need other licenses or permits.
Building your online store
Now after completing all the paperwork required to start your ecommerce business legally, start creating your online store. It is one of the most important parts of starting your business; after all, your website is what your customers will see first.
Design your website
Go for a website design that should reflect your brand, attract your target market, and provide a user-friendly shopping experience. The benefits of having an ecommerce website with top-notch features are innumerable.
A professional ecommerce web design will include features and functionalities that cover everything from loading speed to navigation to user experience to branding. And the cost will eventually depend on the measure of the time expected to implement the core features and functionalities.
Choose an ecommerce store builder
A website builder is a platform on which you can build your website even without any knowledge of coding. There are countless platforms available on the market. However, choosing the right ecommerce software that fits your business needs and budgets is crucial as it can impact the functionality, usability and overall success of your online store.
Consider all the aspects, including scalability, hosting and platform ownership, cost, customisation, integrations, customer support, payment and shipping options. You can pick a platform like WebCommander for ecommerce that will as an all-in-one integrated solution for your business.
Add products and inventory
Add products and create your product listing. Include a detailed product description with all relevant information, such as size, colour and materials. Add everything from product categories to pricing to images to variations to reviews on your product pages. Keep track of your product inventory and make sure to update your store when items are out of stock or available again.
Set up payment and shipping options
When you are ready to sell your products to customers, you should be clear about how you are going to get that product to your customer and how you are going to streamline your customer’s payment process. You need a secure payment system and shipping service in place.
Pick the right payment gateway
A payment gateway will work as a mediator between your ecommerce site and the payment processor. It is crucial to enable secure payment authorisation. When picking a payment gateway, it needs to be reliable. Consider the cost, mobile payment support, limits, location, types of cards allowed, and holding time to get the right one that checks all the boxes by fitting your business needs.
For example, PayPal is one of the most popular payment systems. However, as it charges quite high per transaction, you can go for many other PayPal alternatives as well that are available in the market.
Consider shipping options
Ecommerce shipping is eventually one powerful point of differentiation for your brand that encompasses everything from receiving and processing orders to picking and packing the purchased products. And to stand out from the crowd with the fastest delivery, try to add same-day delivery, overnight shipping option or pick-up options.
Also, you can go for free shipping and flat rate shipping as well. But before you decide on a particular shipping rate and option, calculate your shipping cost and packaging costs wisely.
Market your brand
Once your store is up and running, market it rightly. Ecommerce marketing refers to the methods through which you promote your products and services that come in the form of display ads or media ads. Implementing the right strategy will help you enhance search engine visibility, gain many potential customers, raise authenticity and competency, and drive awareness and action. There are many ways to reap all the best advantages with the right marketing of the ecommerce business.
Choose your marketing channel
From search engine optimisation to email marketing and social media advertising to content marketing, there are a bunch of digital marketing channels that may fit your business objectives. As of a study, search engines like Google process over 3.5 billion searches every day. So, consider SEO to get access to qualified and interested customers.
Also, when there are more than 4 billion daily mail users, go for a personalised email marketing campaign as your way to build a relationship with your potential customers. Social marketing channels are also an important part of any effective digital marketing strategy. Over 4.26 billion users are using social media worldwide. No wonder ecommerce marketers take advantage of all sorts of social media platforms to reach audiences.
Measure your marketing efforts
Right after starting your marketing campaigns, track your results to measure whether the efforts you put on are working in your favour or not. Some most important KPIs include awareness, conversion, retention, consideration, and advocacy.
All these will help you to figure out how many people are seeing your brand, how many are leading to buy, how many are engaging, how many are coming back etc. So, keep your focus on your search engine rankings, site visibility, traffic insights and performance data to measure the gain of your marketing campaigns.
Final words
So, this is one step-by-step roadmap that can assist you in getting you going in starting an ecommerce business in Australia.
However, depending on the business model, the journey is definitely unique for anyone. Even it can be intimidating to establish an online store that makes an impact. That is why, before you commit to a launch, make sure you prepare thoroughly. Put some time into identifying and breaking down the whole process into individual steps to take. Then, once you are all set, start your own!
