Archive for the ‘online shopping’ Category
Wednesday, November 6th, 2013
Photo credit; Butch Lebo on Flickr
New Zealand expat Rebekah Campbell, who started Posse.com, which she says is the world’s first social search engine, started selling flowers and golf balls by the side of the road when she was a child just because she likes the idea of starting a business.
The former Wellington native evolved to managing bands and originally established Posse.com as a way for bands to engage their fans to help promote them and sell concert tickets.
But after selling the fan engagement platform, Campbell rebranded Posse.com as a social search engine that helps people find the favourite places of their social network. The mobile app and site launched in March of this year and has signed more than 35,000 merchants worldwide, including 7000 New Zealand stores.
Users tell Posse what they want, such as “great coffee”, “brunch” or “a gym” anywhere in the world and they will get recommendations from their “posse” of friends and local experts.
It covers most world cities, including Auckland and Wellington. The denser the population the better.
A two-tier subscription model lets businesses send customers gifts and special offers. From next year, $50 and $100 monthly subscriptions will give stores access to additional features to help them build customer communities.
The successful business has attracted a lot of attention from major tech players.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: New Zealand, Posse, social network
Posted in consumers, E-mail & the internet, Facebook, New Zealand, new zealand business, online marketing, Online Sales, online shopping, onlines store, social media, social networking, Success story | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 23rd, 2013
New Zealand’s largest online auction site will likely see its earnings growth slow to about 8% in the coming year from a 12% pace last year.
Photo credit; David Antis on Flickr
The slow down is projected as the site reinvests in its business but it is also projected to pick up again in 2015 as those investments pay off.
Trade Me chief executive Jon Macdonald said he is comfortable with analyst estimates in a Reuters poll for earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation to rise 8.2% in the 2014 financial year, and accelerate to an 11 % pace in 2015.
Trade Me was the biggest disappointment in New Zealand’s 2013 reporting season, based on its stock price reaction, after it warned earnings growth would slow in the coming year as it bolstered its business to drive future profits.
The company’s shares have slid almost 4% since it reported earnings on August 21, and the stock is the third worst performer on New Zealand’s benchmark index the past month, having slid 8%. The stock was recently up 2% to $4.52.
“Fundamentally we are still very much a growth company,” Macdonald  said. “There’s an enormous amount of headroom that we have.”
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: auction, New Zealand, profits, Trade Me
Posted in E-mail & the internet, New Zealand, new zealand business, Online Sales, online shopping, trademe | 1 Comment »
Monday, October 14th, 2013
Photo credit; Steve on Flickr
If you have been thinking about starting an online business, but you also think you might be a little on the mature side for that, these two Kiwi sisters will be an inspiration to you.
Back in 2001, before online businesses really took off, sisters Rhondda Sweetman and Justine Kingi developed pioneering New Zealand online retailer, KiwiArtz.co.nz when they were in their 50s. They sold the business ten years later, in 2011.
The sisters shared what they describe as an undeveloped interest in NZ art and craft at the time and believed online retailing, although in its infancy back in 2001, would be an interesting way of sharing this work with the world.
They began it at a time when they had eased up on their full time jobs. Rhondda had been head of science at McCauley High School and was then doing part time teacher training at AUT University. Justine lectured in social policy and social work on the Bachelor of Social Practice degree at Unitec Institute of Technology when the two started their business.
The sisters say they got to the stage where they were representing over 100 New Zealand artists and other suppliers. Some of whom did very well out of the business. As the business grew the sisters were consistently busy all year round and rushed off their feet ahead of Christmas and other public holidays.The business grew so much, they had to automate their accounting practices and hired other employees.
To read more about this story, click here.
Tags: art, business, KiwiArtz.co.nz, New Zealand, online
Posted in Exporting, New Zealand, new zealand business, online marketing, Online Sales, online shopping, onlines store, shopping, Success story | No Comments »
Friday, October 11th, 2013
Photo credit; Blaise Alleyne on Flickr
New Zealanders spent $5.4 billion online last financial year according to Roy Morgan Research’s Digital Universe report, but despite that seemingly large number, Kiwi money largely remains outside the digital realm.
“The bulk of New Zealand’s net wealth is not yet in the digital universe,” Roy Morgan client services director Howard Seccombe says.
The reason for that is the baby boomers who have the wealth only deal in the fringes of digital technology. That will change over time as the boomers age out and the next generation who is more familiar with digital technologies take over.
Other findings from the report included:
- This year’s survey shows 61% of New Zealanders are worried about their privacy, Â up 11% from the survey carried out four years ago.
- Smartphones have seen spectacular growth, with 1.4 million users. That’s a growth of 227% in four years.
- Right now 39% of New Zealanders have smartphones.
- The Roy Morgan numbers show smartphones amplify people’s digital behaviour. Smartphone owners are ten times as likely to shop online as non-smartphone owners, eight times as likely to bank online and nine times as likely to view video clips.
- Roy Morgan notes a dramatic 20% decline in desktop ownership. This echoes the fall in traditional PC sales. Meanwhile tablets have grown 557% in the past four years.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: baby boomer, business, digital, New Zealand, online, Roy Morgan Research, wealth
Posted in computer, consumers, E-mail & the internet, Going Digital, New Zealand, new zealand business, online marketing, online messaging, Online Sales, online security, online shopping, onlines store, smartphone, smartphones, tablet, tablets, wi-fi | No Comments »
Wednesday, October 9th, 2013
Photo credit; David Antis on Flickr
New Zealand’s answer to eBay, Trade Me, posted slower profit growth for 2013 and said earnings growth would continue to be lacklustre in the coming year as it reinvests in its business.
Trade Me profit rose 4% to $78.6 million in the year ended June 30, slower than the 8.4% pace a year earlier, the Wellington-based company said in a statement. Revenue rose 15% to $164.1 million as classified advertising sales surged 29% while fees from sales of general items rose 5%. Profit was just above First NZ Capital’s estimate of $77.6 million.
“We expect to grow top line revenue and bottom line earnings but these will reflect slower growth than we’ve recorded this year while we focus on reinvestment in the business,” said chief executive Jon Macdonald.
Trade Me, which has attracted about two thirds of New Zealand’s population to its online marketplace, is adding to its core auctions business to drive future growth.
The company said it had agreed to buy online insurance comparison business LifeDirect, adding to its purchase of inventory management company Tradevine and holiday rental accommodation website Holiday Homes in the past year.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: business, New Zealand, online, Trade Me
Posted in E-mail & the internet, New Zealand, new zealand business, online shopping, onlines store | No Comments »
Wednesday, September 18th, 2013
New Zealand-based Dearly Beloved came into existence the same way so many online businesses do; the founder discovered a niche to fill when she herself was searching for something online that she couldn’t find.
Photo credit; Larry Lamsa on Flickr
In this case, that something was a comprehensive online wedding directory in New Zealand.
Dearly Beloved owner Juliet Blair was on a sabbatical in Germany with her soon-to-be-husband and the couple were planning to do some planning for their New Zealand wedding while they were in Europe, but they found a frustrating lack of available services to do that.
Blair shared her frustrations with a couple of German friends who happened to be software developers and three months later, in February of this year, she had her own online business up and running, which aims to help brides-to-be find what they need for their dream wedding quickly and efficiently.
While the business is just getting its feet under it now, Blair eventually plans to expand the business to Australia, Asia and the rest of the world for people interested in marrying in New Zealand.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Dearly Beloved, Germany, marriage, New Zealand, niche, startup, weddings
Posted in E-mail & the internet, Expansion to Australia, New Zealand, new zealand business, Online Sales, online shopping, Success story | No Comments »
Friday, August 30th, 2013
A Digital Enablement Training program will be rolled out across New Zealand in the coming months to help small businesses take advantage of the Government’s ultra-fast broadband (UFB) and rural broadband (RBI) programs.
The program will include workshops on how UFB, RBI and other new technologies will impact on companies and identifies the opportunities it presents.
“The internet is a strong and growing marketplace,” Communications and Information Technology Minister Amy Adams said when announcing the program. “Faster broadband can deliver greater productivity and lower costs, but small businesses need to know how to use it to maximum effect.
“Fast broadband enables businesses to connect easily to the world, and our investment in broadband will support innovation, high-tech jobs, and grow productivity.
“The Digital Enablement Training program will help these businesses understand the benefits that UFB, RBI and ICT services can bring, and help them make more sophisticated use of the tools and services available.”
The program has been supported by the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment and will be available through the New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Regional Business Partner Network around New Zealand.
Adams said although nearly two million New Zealanders want to buy online, only 64 per cent of small businesses have a website and only 11 per cent offer customers the ability to pay online.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Innovation and Employment, Ministry of Business, New Zealand, New Zealand Trade and Enterprise Regional Business Partner Network, rural broadband, small business, ultra fast broadband
Posted in broadband, E-mail & the internet, New Zealand, new zealand business, New Zealand government, Online Sales, online shopping, onlines store, ultra fast broadband | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 21st, 2013
New Zealand’s Claire Ongley always dreamed of working for herself so when she moved back home a few months ago after six years in Sydney, she decided to start her own online business.
With the help of an online store service, she got IzzyandJean.co.nz up and running, selling unusual home wares and accessories imported from overseas.
The products Ongley sells include cotton fouta towels, which come in all different colours and are like Turkish bath towels, coats for dogs, neck ties from a New York designer and boots from Morocco.
Her first task was to get the website up and running. She used a popular e-commerce platform.
“You can set up your online store quite easily without having any technical knowledge. So that’s allowed me to do it all myself, except the logo that was designed by a friend of mine.”
To read more about this story, click here.
Tags: business, IzzyandJean, New Zealand, online
Posted in New Zealand, new zealand business, Online Sales, online shopping, onlines store, shopping, Success story | No Comments »
Wednesday, August 14th, 2013
Briscoe Group has turned its sights toward acquiring online retail businesses.
Rod Duke, managing director of Briscoe Group, which operates Rebel Sport, Briscoes and Living & Giving, said the company is not quite as keen as New Zealand’s biggest listed retailer, The Warehouse, to get into online business. The Warehouse has invested in the online stores Torpedo7 and pet.co.nz.
“It’s something we could look at,” Duke said. “(Online) is an interesting place to be.”
Duke refrained from giving any clues about any specific online businesses Briscoe might be interested in buying or when it might make those purchases.
“What I can say is if we were to buy a business it would play to our core competency (of high-volume consumer goods),” he said. “I don’t have any desire to get into a range of businesses that some people might think that we can operate in.”
Duke said that Briscoe would increase cash reserves in the current financial year from the $78 million it had at the end of January.
“We haven’t had any debt for 15 years,” he added.
To read more on this story, click here.
Tags: Briscoe, Briscoes, Living and Giving, New Zealand, Rebel Sport, The Warehouse
Posted in consumers, E-mail & the internet, Going Digital, New Zealand, new zealand business, Online Sales, online shopping, onlines store | No Comments »
Monday, March 11th, 2013
Home Direct, New Zealand’s top direct selling retailer launched its online store in October 2012 and has experienced large sales growth since then – a jump of 200% in sales year on year.
This is another example of the importance of having an online presence. Only selling via a bricks & mortar store is a large roadblock towards extra sales.
Read more over at scoop.co.nz
Posted in Online Sales, online shopping, onlines store | No Comments »
