IS NEW ZEALAND FALLING SHORT AS FAR AS E-COMMERCE IS CONCERNED?

After talks to establish global e-commerce trade rules at the World Trade Organization (WTO), Minister for Trade and Export Growth David Parker announced that e-commerce is important to small businesses in New Zealand so online businesses can participate in cross-border trade, which was previously more practical for larger businesses like Amazon, eBay, etc. He also added that this is especially important for Kiwis since New Zealand is a small country, and for small countries, smaller businesses are the norm.

Truth is, as far as e-commerce is concerned, New Zealand is far behind the rest of the world, even behind second world countries like China, who are already way ahead with online purchases. By the end of this year, China is expected to reach 25 per cent of all online retail expenditures.

As per the New Zealand Post eCommerce Review of 2018, about 60 per cent New Zealanders did not shop online last year.

According to BNZ, local online spending is progressing at a mere 10 per cent year by year in New Zealand.

Still, after the negotiations at the World Trade Organization (WTO), David Parker has confirmed that “we are continually looking at ways to improve our global connectedness. The expansion of e-commerce offers the potential to help businesses overcome the challenges of scale and distance, selling products direct to consumers online and offering more choice for consumers”.

As of 2018, we have seen that the highest online sales were groceries, and electronics and its paraphilias. What does this mean for New Zealanders? An opportunity to hop in the bandwagon while it’s still at its initial stages and built an e-commerce website.

Kiwi-based online marketplace start-ups such as AllGoods, Designer Wardrobe, and Felt are already reaching new heights on a monthly basis, mostly due to lack of competition.

Another good news is, in order to build an e-commerce website, Kiwis need not even look offshore for a guide. Plenty of web designers are available all around the country, but only a handful are capable of providing an all-round experience, from web designing to development, to integrating cross-platform communication like online banking, to adding cart functionality, to deployment, and even digital marketing. One of these is called Tandem NZ, physically located in Christchurch, they have done work for many New Zealand-based services including tax, accounting, ticket booking, online payment, etc.

Although last year the growth was only at 10 per cent, online retail is expected to grow by well over 15-20 per cent in New Zealand. Rather small compared to our neighbour Australia, but then again  Aussies are six times our population.

Site URL - https://tandemnz.co.nz