Hello my name is Erin Brennan and I’m a shopaholic. As a self confessed addict since the age of 15, (my then obsession with Supre and City Beach were to blame, cringe) I’m well aware of the online retail world. Ebay, Style Tread and Urban Outfitters can be blamed for a number for relapses, and don’t even mention the word sale.
And I’m positive I’m not the only one out there. With the rise of technology, shopping online is only becoming easier. Garments from half way around the world can be on your door step within a week. Clothes can be analysed, compared and haggled from the comfort of your own home, all with the excitement of receiving them in the mail. But what is this doing to our retail industry?
Bill Shorten, the minister for Financial Serivces and Superannuation, estimated in January that just 3 per cent of sales in Australia were online and 20 to 50 per cent of those were on foreign websites. But as we broaden our retail horizons with the opening of Zara, retail paths similar to that of America could be expected. In a world where online sales account for 7.5 to 10% of the countries transactions, face-to-face selling will downsize, and the web based shopping only increase. Considering nearly every store has a website in which items can be bought and delivered to customers, shopping online offers face-to-face styling from shop assistants and excels in the convenience department, something all twenty first century shoppers are wanting.
With the majority of online shopping coming from generations X and Y, the in-store market is still very much alive for baby boomers. As many have grown up without the internet, it will be the majority of older generations who stick to face-to-face purchases, whilst the younger ones delve into the magical and somewhat addictive, online shopping world.
So, fellow shopaholics, as administrating various habit breaking theories prove somewhat uselss, perhaps we should instead embrace our addiction, get off our lap tops and support Aussie retail stores. Consider mall shopping your duty as a law abiding citizen, armed with comfort of good walking shoes and releif of a low interest credit card.
