Despite solid digital progress by some of Australia’s largest retailers in the past few years, a new report by Experian titled “Retail in Australia: It’s time to embrace the digital future” shows retailers are still lagging behind global counterparts. If you don’t have time to read the full report I have summarised some of the juicy insights, as well as posted the infographic which provides a snapshot of the report findings.

• Why is digital not getting the love? The report points to a reluctance among retailers to divert attention (and budget) away from traditional sales channels. There is a degree of uncertainty, largely based on a shortage of expertise or internal skill sets, and a misconception that leveraging digital channels is expensive and high risk.

• Retailers are feeling global pain but are failing to act; 66% of retailers believe that international online retailers have impacted their sales. Despite this however 53% of retailers surveyed have no online sales channel.

• All talk no action; Despite 57% of retail marketers stating that senior executives rate eCommerce as big priority very few companies translate this executive support into marketing spend, with 57% of retailers currently spending 5% or less of their marketing budget on their e-commerce platform. Over one third (34%) fail to allocate any of their marketing budget to e-commerce.

• Basic channel strategies not in sight; Even digital channels that typically provide the best ROI are overlooked. 51 % of retailers don’t have SEO in their marketing strategy for the next 12 months whilst 61 % of retailers don’t have paid search in their marketing strategy and 21% see no value in investing in email marketing. A further 50% don’t have a Facebook presence and don’t plan to over the next 12 months. All of this points to a clear lack of understanding of the space and a lack of leadership within organisations.

Download the Retail in Australia: It’s time to embrace the digital future report here.

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