Posts Tagged ‘internet’

Australia ranked as best place to do online business

Monday, July 28th, 2014
Photo credit; Marc Falardeau on Flickr

Photo credit; Marc Falardeau on Flickr

Australia is the best country to do ­business over the internet, the e-Trade Readiness Index shows.

The index, compiled by eBay and The Economist intelligence unit, ranks Group of 20 countries’ internet-enabled trade. Because the European Union is treated as a separate entity, 19 countries are ranked in this particular index and Australia has the highest e-trade ranking out of those 19.

Rounding out the top five are the United States, South Korea, Britain and Japan respectively. The lowest ranked is Argentina.

Australia topped the list because of:

  • affordable internet access,
  • high smartphone penetration,
  • a well- ­developed regulatory framework and
  • high e-payments adoption.

The index comprises more than 40 indicators across five categories:

  • investment climate,
  • internet environment,
  • international trading environment,
  • regulatory and legal framework, and
  • the environment for e-payments.

The categories are weighted based on The Economist intelligence unit’s assumptions of their importance in cross-border trade using the internet.

However, the report also says that customs and regulation restrictions may hinder the growth of small and ­medium-sized businesses.

To read more on this story, click here.

Website retailer rakes it in buying and selling virtual properties

Tuesday, July 2nd, 2013

Flippa is the premier site in the world dedicated to being a marketplace for buying and selling websites.

Founded in Melbourne in 2009 by Matt Mickiewicz and Mark Harbottle, the site has over 200,000 registered users buying and selling websites.

To read more on this story, click here.

 

 

 

 

SurfStitch rides wave to success

Monday, July 1st, 2013

Garnering 30 million site visits and over 250 million page views since its launch in 2008 by Justin Cameron and Lex Pederson, SurfStitch, an online retailer that specialises in surf gear that is headquartered on the Gold Coast, is one of Australia’s most highly trafficked eCommerce sites and has pulled in $30 million in revenue for the company.

To read more about this story, click here or here.

Catch of the Day reels in major revenue

Wednesday, June 26th, 2013

The online coupon site CatchOfTheDay.com.au, founded by Gabby Leibovich, netted an increase in revenue of 62% in 2012 to $230 million.

The site, which has distribution centres in Braeside and Truganina, Victoria, started in 2006 and has been going strong ever since.

To read more about this story, click here.

Australia’s National Broadband Network could lead to boom for online startups

Tuesday, June 25th, 2013

As Australia continues to roll out its $38 billion National Broadband Network, which will bring high-speed internet to almost all the 23 million population of the country, some government higher ups are predicting a boom in online and high tech businesses.

“As the rollout of the NBN continues, the capacity for start-up companies, particularly in the tech and digital sectors, to create game-changing businesses and applications is unprecedented,” said Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, recently.

Currently, online and high-tech start-ups only account for about 0.1% of GDP and 9,500 jobs. But the sector is growing rapidly and a recent report by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PWC) suggests it could account for 4% of GDP and 540,000 jobs by 2033.

The rise of young startups has seen them start to populate the ranks of the Business Review Weekly Young Rich List, which ranks the wealthiest people in the country under 41.

The list includes 24 tech and online startup company founders, including: software entrepreneurs Mike Cannon-Brookes and Scott Farquhar at the top; PC Tools founder Simon Clausen at No. 4; serial entrepreneur specialising in online retail sites Ruslan Kogan at No. 8; Bigcommerce founders Mitchell Harper and Eddie Machaalani at No. 10; and freelancer.com founder Matt Barrie at No. 50.

To read more on this story, click here.

Kogan Technologies takes on big retailers, wins

Monday, June 24th, 2013

Founded in 2006 by Ruslan Kogen and headquartered in Melbourne, Kogan Technologies is an Australian consumer electronics manufacturer and retailer.

The company’s business model is to sell products direct from Asia to customers in Australia and the United Kingdom, bypassing the industry’s usual middlemen.

Kogan Technologies’ 2012 revenue was $100 million.

To read/see more about this story, click here and here.

Online orders in Australia see huge increase

Friday, June 21st, 2013

Online business in Australia has jumped by 25%.

Orders made over the internet, including both within Australia and from overseas, reaped more than $237 billion in revenues in the 2011-12 financial year over the year before, according to the IT Use and Innovation in Australian Business report released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics this week.

Information media and telecommunications businesses received the most online orders in 2011-12, followed by wholesale trade manufacturing whilst agriculture, forestry and fishing had the lowest proportion of online orders.

To read more on this story, please click here.

 

 

Internet sales of illicit substances circumvent Australian Customs

Thursday, July 22nd, 2010

The internet has allowed makers and suppliers of ‘legal highs’ which may contain illicit substances, to sell their goods directly to the public online.

Sydney Morning Herald today reports that Australian Customs faces new problems with emerging technology, as it is difficult to monitor, and exposes a potentially wider section of the public to drugs.  Some of the pills are simply caffeine-based, whereas others contain ingredients such as ephedrine, one of the precursors of methamphetamine. They are sent through the post and Customs said “many packages are opened and assessed each day”, but not every package can be opened.

Customs does not have the legal authority to shut down online sites selling the drugs but has forced some of the websites to include import restrictions warnings.