The move into e-commerce is unavoidable in times of increasing competition. A study by the trade association and the Austrian Post AG examined what is needed for a successful start in online trading and what expectations are placed on the postal service as a shipping partner. The results were presented and discussed yesterday as part of a round table, on the podium were: Peter UmundumDeputy General Director, Board of Directors for Parcel & Logistics, Österreichische Post AG, Rainer WillManaging Director, Austrian Trade Association, Thomas SchwablFounder and Managing Director, Marketagent.com online reSEARCH GmbH and Nadja EssmeisterManaging Director, Bake Affair GmbH.
“Digitalization has massively changed our purchasing behavior. Over 70 percent of consumers research products online before purchasing them in store. Retailers have to react to this and that is what they are doing. 71 percent of Austrian retailers already sell online. In addition to their own online presence, almost a quarter of domestic web shops rely on marketplaces to increase their visibility in e-commerce. This shows the innovative strength and resilience of the entire industry.”says Rainer WillManaging Director of the Austrian Trade Association.
“Around 80 percent of all e-commerce packages come from abroad. For Austria, this added value is lost first and foremost to trade. As Austrian Post, we therefore support domestic trade and offer modular fulfillment, collection, delivery, shöpping.at and simple IT connections. We have already installed personal contact persons in all regions for smaller retailers. We also help with a free fitness check as an initial consultation. With a shöpping.at campaign, we provide price support when entering the German market.”explained Peter UmundumDeputy General Director, Austrian Post AG.
These are the new offers in detail:
- Promotion from shöpping.at: The Austrian Post’s online trading platform will launch in November with a marketplace offering in Germany. Domestic retailers who sell products to Germany via shöpping.at in the promotional months of November and December receive a discount on every order.
- Postal offer: From the beginning of 2025, Swiss Post will also offer free “e-commerce fitness checks”. In an initial meeting with customers, Swiss Post experts analyze where the company stands in terms of online trading and what support it needs. Upon request, Swiss Post will then provide a tailor-made offer.
“The future is online and there is hardly any way around it in retail if the company wants to become or remain visible. In addition, almost every second respondent estimates the costs incurred for online trading to be lower compared to stationary trading, on average by 34 percent.”so Thomas SchwablManaging Director of Marketagent online reSEARCH GmbH.
“E-commerce is now an integral part of our lives. Consumers enjoy the benefits of a wide selection, shopping convenience and fast delivery from all over the world. E-commerce is not the icing on the cake. It’s the cake”explained Nadja EssmeisterManaging Director, Bake Affair GmbH.
THE STUDY RESULTS IN DETAIL
- Status Quo: 71% of the domestic companies surveyed are already active in e-commerce today, and a further 10% are planning to get started.
- Distribution channels: Of the retailers who are already active online, 87% have their own online shop, and 23% also use the offers of marketplaces such as shöpping.at.
- Good reasons for e-commerce: 60% of companies want to be visible to their customers, 58% see online trading as a help in expanding their sales area and half (50%) expect an increase in sales and profits. 36% report greater efficiency in sales, and more than a quarter (26%) also see e-commerce as an opportunity to expand the product range. More than every second company surveyed (51%) is certain: the future is online.
- Cost savings: Almost half of the retailers (49%) estimate the costs of online trading to be lower than those of brick-and-mortar retail, and 30% consider the costs to be at least the same.
- Sustainability: Almost three quarters (73%) of companies rate sustainability as “very important” or “somewhat important”. Here too, e-commerce can open up further savings potential with the consolidated transport of goods.
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