The top 3,000 sellers on eBay.com.au are expecting the biggest Christmas sales ever this year.
In a recent survey, two-thirds of eBay’s top 3000 sellers said they are confident sales will increase by an average of 31 per cent over the Christmas trading period.
Figures released by the ABS show that overall retail sales grew but sales for fashion and department store purchases remained sluggish at 1.1 per cent. This is in comparison to Forrester’s prediction that Australians will spend $30 billion online in 2011, up 11.7 per cent on last year.
Additional data found, in the lead up to Christmas, on average, 73 per cent of the 3,000 eBay sellers are expecting to increase their inventory line.
According to data and strategy experts Quantium, the only parts of the retail sector experiencing growth are businesses that have established an online sales strategy as part of their business model.
“Our Market Blueprint data shows that the online market is growing at an annual rate of 26 per cent, suggesting it will double in the next three years. Any retailer not paying attention to online by now is turning their back on the fastest growing part of the market. Indeed, in many sectors it is the only growing part of the market,” Tony Davies, Quantium director, said.