Dec
Australia’s Online Wholesale Sales Increasing Significantly
One of the key findings of a new survey of Importer/wholesalers is that they believe that Australia’s online wholesale sales are increasing significantly, with most expecting this to continue to grow.
Gift and Homewares Australia (GHA) has announced last month some key findings of a major research study conducted with GHA Members earlier this year by Micromex Research with around 800 members responding to the survey.
Key findings were:-
• GHA Members view the GHA Home & Giving fairs as a vital part of their sales and marketing strategy with 47 per cent of respondents nominating them as the key reason for initially becoming a GHA Member
• 81 per cent of GHA Members are either satisfied or very satisfied with their membership and 66 per cent believe that the cost of annual membership is recouped through savings made using member benefits
• Members nominated the Commonwealth Bank’s reduced merchant services and debit transaction fees as the most beneficial member service offered by GHA
• The gift industry is predominately built of small owner/operators with an average turnover of $816,360. 94 per cent of respondents were the owner of the business.
• The majority of businesses operate from a sole location and employ five full time staff
• The gift and homewares industry is increasingly becoming more technology aware with 99 per cent of respondents regularly using their email address and 85 per cent having an active website.
• The importance of online sales has increased significantly and 61 per cent of respondents expect this trend to continue to grow
• Australia’s eastern states house the majority of GHA Members with 39 per cent based in NSW, 30 per cent in Victoria and 12 per cent in QLD
• The industry is one of longevity – respondents average time in the industry is 13 years
• Importation remains a key avenue for sourcing products with 75 per cent of respondents currently importing products from 46 different countries. China is the most dominate source of imports with 65 per cent of respondents regularly sourcing product from China
