The eCommerce space is constantly changing. It can be hard to keep up with all the latest online retail trends, which is why we have picked the top 5 trends from top eCommerce conference Magento Live 2016 in Sydney and explained what they could mean for your business.

1. five key trends
magento live 2016

2. Magento Live Australia 2016 was held in
Sydney’s Hilton Hotel from 7-8 November.
Attendees from the retail and ecommerce
space came together to discuss the top trends
in eCommerce in Australia. The Netstarter
team was on hand to greet delegates and
answer questions.
Thanks to everyone for popping by the stand.
The Netstarter team
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magento
live australia
2016

3. magento analytics
Magento’s new Magento Analytics tool was a hot
topic at the event, following the company’s
acquisition of RJMetrics earlier this year.
Magento Commerce has integrated RJMetrics’
cloud-based analytics platform with its existing
analytics to create Magento Analytics. The
souped-up platform is designed to help
merchants better understand their customers,
sell smarter and increase ROI.
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one
“Data is crucial to managing your business, and the
winners are those who can join the dots across their
customer journey. Setting up a suite of dashboards with
a metrics tool is the first step to ensure your decision
making is truly data led.”
Ben Popplestone
Netstarter

4. mobile-first,
Upcoming updates to the Google algorithm
favouring mobile were discussed. Google’s
intentions to move to a mobile first index were
first flagged by Google webmaster trends analyst
Gary Illyes in 2015. Google is said to be testing
the algorithm with select companies at the
moment, and it is believed that it will be rolled
out in the coming months. It has sparked
conversations within the industry about how to
best optimise your site for indexing.
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two
google search
“If you have a mobile version of your website, make sure to
optimise this first for SEO and on the back of that you optimise
your desktop version. It is about changing your mindset. If your
mobile version is not delivering the optimal user experience, it
will hurt your desktop rankings too.”
Richard Elenbaas
Salmat Search

5. accelerated
On the back of the conversation about Google’s
mobile-first index, there was keen interest in the
importance of Accelerated Mobile Pages (AMP).
Converting your website pages to AMP is a way to help
your website load faster on mobile and tablet devices.
With the mobile index rumoured to be placing
importance on load speed, there was discussion about
how AMP could benefit websites. Syncrony CEO Howard
Rybko encouraged delegates to test their site pages
using Plumrocket’s AMP extension for Magento.
5
three
mobile pages:AMP
“AMP does not yet give you a direct ranking boost and AMP sites
are only served in Google’s news carousel. However, it is only a
matter of time before Google will roll it out to all ‘10 blue links’. It
is unclear what impact it will then have on your rankings and if
AMP will be useful beyond websites that deliver fast news or
content that gets outdated quickly. For most websites, like
eCommerce websites, AMP will have no impact.”
Richard Elenbaas
Salmat Search

6. data
Forrester Research says that 12% of all abandoned
carts are due to the product being out of stock. Is your
team tracking this metric and sharing the insights with
your buyers? Data transparency was a key topic
discussed by Errol Denger (Adobe) and Peter Sheldon
(Magento Commerce). They gave the example of Ikea
that has gone a step beyond by sharing store inventory
online. The company has even adopted a traffic lights
system so customers can have confidence in the
likelihood of the item being in store when they visit.
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four
transparency
“Closing the loop between operations and marketing is a
challenge both organisationally across departments and
technically across systems. But the rewards are clear if you
can forecast and meet product demand and turn that into a
value proposition for your customers.”
Ben Popplestone
Netstarter

7. 7
delivery
Does your eCommerce site offer frictionless
conversion? Consumers are increasingly expecting
more from their retailers, including quick delivery.
The window of delivery is constantly decreasing and
delivery within 1-2 days is becoming the norm.
Multiple methods of delivery were discussed, from the
rise of independent shipping companies like San
Francisco start-up Shyp. Or Wal-Mart’s pilot working
with Uber, Lyft and Deliv to deliver online orders.
And, of course, drone delivery is always being touted
as the next big thing. Don’t underestimate the
importance of free shipping, either. Geolocation
banners promoting free shipping to specific regions is
a great way to boost sales in certain locations.
five “Price and convenience of
delivery has long been a
deciding factor in the
purchase for customers so
options for speedy delivery,
personalised delivery and
free delivery will only
become more important to
meet your customers’
expectations.”
Ben Popplestone
Netstarter

8. 8
“Opportunity and threat are often determined by your response.
There is no doubt that Amazon will shake up the landscape if they
establish in Australia, but retailers in other regions have found new
audiences through their marketplace offering.”
Ben Popplestone
Netstarter
amazon coming to australia
The cat was let out of the proverbial bag in November that Amazon would be setting up shop in Australia in
2017. Chief Investment Officer at Watermark Funds Justin Braitling was quoted in the AFR as saying that the
online retailer would be establishing distribution centres in every state with the intention of selling general
merchandise and fresh produce as well. There has been no official comment from the online retailer as yet, but
the industry is abuzz with discussion as to what it will mean for local retailers.
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9. Want to find out more about how
these trends will impact on your retail
business? Give us a call on
1300 725 628 or
email contact@netstarter.com
to speak to one of our Netstarter team.
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10. thank you