It was inevitable. Any news about Christmas shopping mentioned it.
Australians were just not spending as much as experts had predicted. Why not? Was it because in these economically unstable times (what up, Spain?) people are being more cautious about spending and deciding to spend less on superfluous material goods? No, according to Myer, David Jones and Harvey Norman, the drop in Australia’s retail sales is all because of foreign websites selling goods at cheaper prices.
Australia’s biggest retailers are lobbying the Australian government to apply GST to all foreign online purchases or to remove GST from all locally sold goods under $1,000. And in a move that would ensure their message was heard by the right people, they spent $200,000 on buying full-page ads in national newspapers.
Christopher Zinn, campaign director of Choice, stated that Australian retailers only have themselves to blame, with their “high prices, limited range and poor customer service that increasingly encourage people to use the internet.” However, the high prices, limited range and poor customer service you get in store are equally prevalent on the websites of these retailers. Surely it would have been a better investment if these retailers updated their own websites with the $200,000.
A look at the Myer and David Jones sites shows that catalogues get precedence over any user-friendly online shopping experience, and even though it looks like you can, you can’t even buy online on the Harvey Norman site! That’s kind of sad in an age where a twenty-year-old fashion blogger can set up a basic online store overnight using just Blogger and PayPal.
The higher value of the Australian dollar has meant that shopping on international sites has made things cheaper, but the online shopping experience is also much better than on most comparable Australian sites. For example, David Jones is Australia’s leading luxury department store, but its website does not compete with the usability and range of products found on the websites of Barneys, Saks, Nordstrom or Neiman Marcus. The online stores of these American department stores have been operating for many years and it is a wonder that major Australian retailers have been so slow to follow suit.
Myer, David Jones and Harvey Norman also say that untaxed foreign websites will mean the demise of casual and part-time jobs in retail, manufacturing and logistics. But most of us have worked for or know people who have worked for these retailers and know that as soon as the school holidays begin, more hours and shifts are scheduled for the younger kids because their wages are cheaper. So, please forgive me if I don’t believe that you are actually looking out for Australian jobs but are in fact trying in vain to monopolise where Australians shop online. As Bill Shorten pointed out “online retail sales account for about 3 per cent of all retail sales in Australia and it is estimated that between 20 per cent to half of these sales relate to overseas purchases.”
In short, stop complaining and up your (online) game Australian retailers.