Online Retail Solutions (e-stores)

Business research firm IBISWorld recently predicted that Australian online spending will grow by about 5.5% annually for the next five years, from $15.1 billion in 2007-08 to $21.2 billion during 2013-14.*

Combined with the fact that around 80% of Australian Internet users now shop online**, there has never been a more compelling time to implement an online store, or e-store, for your business.

One of the greatest benefits of having an online store is that it enables your business to offer a 24-hour, 7-day a week service to a much broader audience, at a fraction of the cost of employing staff in your physical shop.

An online store offers your customers the opportunity to browse your product catalogue in the comfort and privacy of their offices and homes, and more importantly, allows them to make purchases instantly. In a world seemingly focussed on instant gratification, providing your customers with the ability to buy online could very well be the difference in them choosing your products over your competitors'

Fairfax eCommerce specialises in designing and developing online stores that accommodate your current and future business objectives. Our software architecture has been developed, tested and refined over several years, and now successfully powers online stores for Australian businesses of all sizes, across numerous industries. You can read more about our development philosophy here.

Benefits

As well as offering all of the benefits of our standard websites, our online stores provide additional advantages:

• Rapid return on investment (ROI) — We understand that many businesses have concerns about embarking on the ecommerce route due to the potentially high development and maintenance costs. With a minimal up-front setup cost and ongoing monthly instalments, our affordable ecommerce solutions fit more appropriately with the cash flow cycles of businesses like yours, allowing you to spread the costs over time. If used to full potential, a Fairfax eCommerce online store can generate enough business to pay for itself within 6 to 12 months.
• Secure transactions and data storage — Businesses can also be deterred against selling online because of the perceived security risks in doing so. Indeed, free or cheap ecommerce and content management systems typically have widely known flaws that hackers can exploit. All online stores built by Fairfax eCommerce operate on software we have developed in-house, and we adhere to industry best practice security standards. We recommend clients use the services of the highly respected payment gateway specialist, Camtech SecurePay, for their credit card gateway provider.
• Free core software upgrades — As technology changes, operating systems and Internet browsers also evolve. This can often lead to websites “breaking” or simply not functioning or displaying in the way they were originally designed. Fairfax eCommerce continually updates and enhances the “back-end” software that powers all of our online stores. Not only are these regular updates included in the cost of your website, this approach ensures that your ecommerce solution continues to evolve and remain technically current.
• Targeted Search Engine Optimisation (SEO) — The importance of search engine optimisation continues to grow, and it is vital that your online store is designed and optimised to serve the most relevant content when your potential clients click through from their preferred search engine. Our online stores enable you to optimise every product in your catalogue, using specific keywords and key phrases relevant to each item.
• Easy to maintain and manage — The Fairfax eCommerce CMS (Content Management System) is easy to use. Our content editor allows you to update your content simply, instantly, and at any time you choose.

We strongly believe that businesses which fail to embrace the opportunities made available by ecommerce technologies will ultimately lose revenue and customers to those which do. We look forward to sharing with you our expertise in the ever-evolving arena of ecommerce, and developing an online store or custom ecommerce solution that will give your business a competitive advantage.