With the end of financial year sales expected to be bigger than ever, a new online shopping mall has been launched in Australia.
Aussie Mega Mall is seven times bigger than Westfield Bondi Junction, which has 522 stores, says CEO Darryl Reeves.
“We opened our Australian training centre on 12 May on the Gold Coast with more than 3,500 Australian shops that can be browsed through ‘aisles online’ and we will be opening our marketplace on 8 July this year,” he says.
According to National Australia Bank’s (NAB) latest Online Retail Sales Index report, online shopping increased by 12.4 per cent over the last year with consumers spending $19.3 billion.
“While the online retail sector is still smaller in comparison to traditional ‘bricks and mortar’ retailers online, sales have grown at nearly double the pace over the past year,” NAB chief economist Alan Oster says.
However, the Australian Bureau of Statistics reports that 52.9 per cent of Australian businesses still don’t have websites. Reeves says businesspeople can use the mall like their website.
“A lot of people don’t have a website and even when they do, they may be getting very little traffic to it. We provide an interface between their website and the Aussie Mega Mall and may provide the potential precious browsing customer traffic they need.”
He adds that the mall is for Australians by Australians. “A lot of small businesses are struggling and people are buying offshore. We decided we want to give the small online business owner all the support we can.”
While anyone can list their online store for free, there are 15 premium paid spots available in each category. Listings can have digital brochures, their own daily deals, coupon codes and access to Aussie Mega Mall membership for extra promotion and discounted products. Other features to be added include social media links, loyalty points, classifieds and an Aussie Mega Mall app.
Reeves also plans to open a Mega Mall in New Zealand this year, as well as the US, UK and South Africa in 2017.
“The Aussie Mega Mall will be the go-to place to buy or sell products or services online in one place. It has the potential to be a gigantic business on a global scale.”
By Marion Gerritsen
