Australia remains one of the primary markets for e-commerce. According to Statista, the industry could generate a revenue of over $25 billion by 2021.
From this year to 2025, the compound annual growth rate could reach 4.2%. By the end of the forecast period, the market value could have already grown by $35 billion.
Smartphone penetration is one of the primary reasons for Aussies to shop online with a few presses of the button. JP Morgan data showed that nearly 70% of the residents own and actively use a smartphone.
Improved transport and logistics also allow businesses to participate in global trade. A small company in Victoria with a well-designed and optimised website can already have loyal clients in New Zealand and even the United States.
However, for businesses to truly grow, they may also want to look for specialists in local SEO services.
How Local Marketing Promotes Growth
There are two ways to look at this: macroeconomics, or the effects of small businesses supporting others and the local economy, and local marketing statistics.
Let’s first talk about the different local marketing data. HubSpot is a wealth of information about this one. In its curated list of numbers, it shared that over 70% of consumers who performed a local search actually visited a store located within five miles.
It seems to corroborate another report that said most customers will travel for no longer than 20 minutes for their daily needs. At least 85% claimed they will never do it if it takes them 15 minutes or more.
The said survey further revealed that for their essentials, consumers are even less likely to travel for over 10 minutes. They will probably shop for groceries at a store 6 minutes away or get petrol from a station that’s 8 minutes far.
HubSpot also mentioned that nearly 50% of Google searches are already about looking for information. Within the past two years, the searches for terms that included “close by” or “near me” jumped by a whopping 900%!
Optimising the site for the local market will also pay off, based on the other data. Over 85% of local searches on a mobile device lead to either a visit or a call within 24 hours. At least 15% of these smartphone searches will also result in a purchase within a day compared to only 7% for non-local searches.
Most of all, local sales may reach $1.4 trillion by 2021 and that they may influence revenues of physical stores. At least 75% of local mobile searches lead to an offline purchase.
People are buying local not only because they are convenient, but their preferences also changed over time. According to Euromonitor, home-grown products have become more desirable to consumers since their origins are easier to trace.
When it comes to food, consumers may view local products as fresh, clean, and more organic—that is, they may contain more nutrients because they are less likely to change or spoil during transport.
Moreover, customers these days prefer sustainable or green products. Local goods fit the bill since they can conveniently research how companies created these items. And because they are just within the area, these businesses use less fuel and, therefore, produce less carbon footprint.
Looking at It in the Macro Scale
Supporting local businesses, which are usually small companies, can also positively contribute not only to the country’s economy but also to the area where they exist.
According to the Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise report in 2020:
- Small businesses account for almost 99% of the total companies that operate in Australia. This percentage is similar to most countries in the world.
- They contribute over $415 billion to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) from 2018 to 2019. That’s equivalent to not less than 30% of Australia’s economy.
- These companies employ at least 40% of the total workforce or nearly 5 million people.
Local businesses can bring innovation, investments, and talented people into the region. All these can also translate to a booming economy for what could be a sleepy town.
The Harvard Business Review provided an example. Some researchers analyzed the growth of five American cities, including Boston, Miami, and Spartanburg-Greenville in South Carolina.
During the early twentieth century, Spartanburg-Greenville was the Hub City and the leader of textile manufacturing in the United States. However, by the 1950s, the industry declined as wages rose.
In the previous decades, though, the communities worked together to revitalise the downtown business district, such as relocating companies into the area.
These efforts resulted in its rebirth as the primary region for manufacturing. By 2003, the area attracted direct foreign investment offers from at least 18 countries and over 200 companies.
There’s nothing wrong with conquering the world, but strengthening its local roots ensures, if things go worse, a business will always have a place where it can reset and begin regrowing.
