eCommerce Express Digest - April 2024

Is it May already? This year is flying by! This month we’re doing things a little differently and looking at the State of Ecommerce – with some data from 2023 and looking forward to 2024. Fear not though, the main events from April are still listed to keep you up-to-date with all things Online Marketing. 

The AusPost eCommerce Industry Report 2024 was released in April 2024 and boy did it contain some data gems, backed up trends AND provided some great tips.

You can read and download the report here to see stats specific to your industry, but we’ve put together some of the main points below:

• ‘Online retails is here to stay’ –  more households are shopping online than ever before, with 8/10 making a purchase online in 2023.

• Aussies spent $316b on retail goods in 2023, only a 2% increase on 2022 (it was a 9.3% increase the previous year).
• Non-discretionary spending far outgrew discretionary spending YoY.

• Consumers chose to make more frequent but smaller purchases online.
• Aussies ‘looked for better deals’, with Online Marketplaces seeing a surge in online spending.
• Online share of total retail spent was 16.8%.
• Regional areas are outgrowing Metro for buying online.
• Location wise, WA had the highest growth, followed by NT, TAS and QLD.
• Online Sales Events (such as Black Friday, EOFYS and Cyber Monday) are accelerating in popularity.

• Younger generations are cutting back on spending, while Gen X and Baby Boomers have more stable incomes and online spend it growing. Gen Y still spent the most online though.

From page 20 onwards, there are some really handy tips; including:

• Creating an omnichannel presence to aid engagement.
• Using your returns policy is there to help conversions.
• How to market to the different generations.
• Focussing on sustainability to attract Gen Z’s.
• Final sale items in strategy.
• Scaling with machine learning.

From here, research giant Roy Morgan also published their Future of Retail presentation.

Some points of note looking to the rest of 2024 and the economic climate are:

• Consumer confidence is rising but still below neutral.
• Home owners, 50+ and Gen Z’s have the most expendable income.
• The top spending categories are pet supplies, gaming and cosmetics/ skincare.
• Online spending increased 12% in the last 6 months compared with 6 months prior.
• The Retail forecast for the rest of 2024 shows subdued below growth trends.

There’s some good signs and by utilising the insights and tips provided by AusPost, you can craft a marketing strategy for the remainder of 2024.

On to the other items for April 2024:

Google unveiled its latest advancement, Meta AI, promising more relevant and personalised search results using Llama 3. This technology aims to enhance user experience by understanding search intent better and delivering more accurate results. You may have noticed this already if you have updated your Meta Apps (Facebook and Instagram for example). Mark Zuckerberg discussed this in The Verge. 

YouTube introduced new updates to its live streaming platform, offering creators deeper insights into audience engagement. These enhancements include advanced analytics on viewer reactions during live streams, empowering content creators to tailor their content and engagement strategies more effectively.

Confirming what many advertisers have been thinking, it’s been made official that Google Search CPC has risen. Despite the increase in search revenue, a report revealed a 13% year-over-year rise in Google’s Cost Per Click (CPC), indicating a potential slowdown in ad spend growth. This trend suggests advertisers may be facing increased competition or adjusting their strategies in response to market dynamics. It’s probably no surprise that the Paid revenue stream also reported a significant increase in search revenue, marking a 14% year-over-year growth to $46 billion. Read more on Search Engine Land or see Alphabet’s Annual report here.

Google Performance Max announced the rollout of innovative AI features aimed at optimizing ad performance across various channels. These new features leverage advanced machine learning algorithms to improve ad targeting, bidding strategies, and overall campaign effectiveness. All new features are detailed here. 

Phew. Another huge month over and out. Have any questions or think we’ve missed something big? Contact the Megantic Team today and ask or let us know!