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~ Practicology ~

Payment methods UK pureplay retailer Missguided localised its merchandising well,
Australian payment service Afterpay allows customers to using seasonally appropriate imagery and nudging customers
purchase items and pay for them later in four bi-weekly towards its summer range. On the other hand, UK activewear
instalments. Similar to the payment options provided by Klarna retailer Sweaty Betty showcased its winter range, promoting
in Europe, it’s particularly popular in fashion categories with unsuitable jumpers and woolly hats to its Australian customers.
younger shoppers eager to try out their purchases without
having to pay the full cost upfront.
100% of Australian retailers in our research allowed customers
to make purchases using this method, while only 20% of UK
retailers off ered the same. Australian consumers expect to see
Afterpay as a payment option, and cross-border retailers should
assess whether adopting it will raise metrics such as average basket
value and conversion rate.

Online retailers Asos and Boohoo were the only UK retailers in
our research to off er Afterpay. Recognising the signifi cance of
providing this option, Boohoo promotes Afterpay widely across
its homepage and product details pages.

Customer support Once Australian customers reach your relevant product pages,
Customer support remains a vital aspect of the customer experience. it’s helpful to make sizing clear, both to increase conversion and
Consumers need advice at various times in the customer journey, reduce costly returns. UK retailer Ted Baker was an example of
particularly from international brands that they may not be as best practice, clearly using Australia-specifi c sizing and providing
familiar with, so are often looking for immediate support. an easy to use size guide to remove any ambiguity.

Operating at least one customer service channel during Australian Optimising for local search results
business hours should increase a retailer’s conversion rate. Localising key aspects of product details pages assists consumers
already on your site and should drive more traffi c to your site in
Despite this, no UK retailers the fi rst place; as product details pages frequently act as landing
provide a customer support phone pages from search engines.
line that operated in Australian
business hours and only 30% Th ough both countries speak English, several key product
off ered a Live Chat service. Six categories have diff erent names in UK English and Australian
of the 10 UK retailers replied English – for example thongs meaning fl ipfl ops/sandals in
to an email query within 24 Australia but underwear in the UK.
hours, but the fastest by some
margin was still four hours. Investing in a local keyword strategy and optimising your product
In comparison, the most names and content for Australia will improve your ranking in
responsive Australian retailer organic search results; crucial if you don’t have stores or huge
sent a helpful email response marketing budgets to raise awareness of your brand. Many
within 16 minutes. Australian retailers have yet to adopt sophisticated search engine
optimisation strategies, and this presents an opportunity for cross-
border retailers. Four of the fi ve best scoring sites in our SEO
Seasonal merchandising analysis of keywords ranking on page one of Australian Google
Ensuring that product merchandising is appropriate for results were UK retailers.
Australian customers creates a challenge for retailers based in
the northern hemisphere that must adapt their product range to Despite the change in taxation policy, there is plenty of scope for
accommodate counter-seasonal demand. It was disappointing to cross-border retailers to compete in the Australian market with a
see UK retailers highlighting products such as gloves, coats and little investment in key localisation techniques. ••
even skiwear when Australia experienced the hottest month on
record in January 2019.
TO DOWNLOAD THE SELLING FASHION ONLINE IN AUSTRALIA 2019 REPORT, FEATURING
Our data revealed that 30% of UK retailers promoted clearly MORE BENCHMARKS AND BEST PRACTICE EXAMPLES, PLEASE SEE:
unseasonal products on their homepage, while 40% clearly WWW.PRACTICOLOGY.COM/ONLINEFASHION
tailored their range to serve Australian customers during their
summer months.

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