The majority of exporters in New Zealand have profited from e-commerce which has given a boostto their business, with an increasing number of new exporters adopting an online strategy, a new
DHL survey revealed.According to the research results, 73% of the exporters in the country have been able to improvetheir business through online trade (up from 67% in 2013) while 76% are generating at least someexport sales from online orders. Of those, 27% of exporters generate at least 50% of their ordersthrough online channels.
Tim Baxter, DHL Express New Zealand Country Manager, said: “The online sphere is one of the mostrapidly changing areas of exporting, and we believe that it will become a crucial area for thoselooking to export to offshore markets in the next few years.”
The study also found that almost one third (32%) of the companies who have exported for fewerthan five years are generating 100% of their export orders online. “Those newer to the exportmarket are more likely to have their own website as a sales and distribution channel (79% of thosetrading less than five years), compared to those trading for over 20 years (53%),” DHL explained.Overall, 40% of exporters surveyed used their own website as their primary export channel.
70% of the exporters surveyed consider an online presence as a highly valuable tool and reportedan increase in both visibility and a wider reach to more customers. Over half (57%) of exporterswith an online presence said they are using analytics tools to understand their customers’ trafficand search behaviour on their website.
In the last 12 months, 40% of exporters said an enhanced website/online presence was one of theinnovative initiatives used to increase export orders. While 91% offer product and serviceinformation on their website, only 45% offer pricing information.
Referring to the upcoming annual Online Fashion Success Workshop on 23 September in Auckland,Baxter said: “The fashion industry has been an early adopter of online marketing and e-commerce,and an online presence is now crucial for a fashion exporter seeking an international following.However, building and maintaining an online presence can be a costly exercise, with littlefinancial return. We aim to assist exporters in creating a viable online platform and maximisingthat both in terms of maintaining a customer database and generating sales.”
With the survey, which was conducted by ACA Research from 29 April – 16 May 2014, DHL Express NZaims to analyse export confidence in New Zealand and identify export trends.
