Iii) Some More On Retailers

- Internet influences (2012) around 11% of total retail sales as consumers search for information before buying in stores

- Internet sales account for up to 20% of retailer's sales (2013) ); with around 80 % of shoppers having bought on-line and more are willing to pay for digital versions of newspapers, films & movies

- there is a paradox in the rise of virtual retailing, ie customers are demanding more of their traditional retail experience while "window shopping" on-line

Owing to its global connections, it has given access & voice to individuals that they never had before. Trends & attention spans can shift within seconds and produce tsumani-like impacts, eg "complete this sentence - in my house it's a crime not to buy....." was a disaster for Coles when posted on Twitter as people posted negative sentiments, eg squeezing farmers on prices, encouraging gambling addicts re poker machines.

Social media has allowed people to get involved in social media issues from the comfort of their homes. Yet on Facebook there has been a better response than from posting on Twitter. Yet the response to "kill" Mortein's "Louie the fly" on Facebook resulted in around 1/4 million users starting a successful campaign to save Louie. Unfortunately for Mortein, the campaign to kill Louie coincided with the firm closing its Australian operations.

Luxury products

As retailers have to balance sales from in-store and online, especially as information is available online with unlimited choices, for the luxury items, the challenge is to engage online yet retain an air of exclusivity.

Digital is the power that runs our lives, ie it is building platforms to link business to business, person to business, person-to-person, etc. It is becoming like oxygen, ie cannot do without it. The way we communicate has fundamentally changed.

"...We are moving from a mass culture to a mass of niches..."

Marion Hume, 2017

Rise of local businesses

Decades ago global or national businesses dominated local markets and local businesses were decimated. Small towns became homogenised.

"...The Internet isn't what commoditised us; globalisation commoditised us. The Internet is bringing us our culture back..."

Ian Rogers as quoted by Marion Hume 2017a

Now, small local businesses can compete with the global/national organisations by using the Internet to sell their products and services nationally and internationally.

"...The great thing the Internet does is change the definition of local. Local means shared interest..."

Ian Rogers as quoted by Marion Hume 2017a

NB Shared interests refers to a potential worldwide market of people who have the same interests, eg brand, hobbies, etc

Some social media statistics include