Aussie e-tailers growing faster than U.S. counterparts

New research has found that Australia's online sales growth is outpacing that of the United States.

A recent study from Forrester Research found that although Australia's online shopping market is comparatively small, it is experiencing more rapid growth and better conversation rates than the much larger market in the U.S.

While online retailers in the U.S. had an average conversion rate of 3.4 percent, Aussie e-tailers had rates over 5 percent. In addition, online shoppers in the United States are more likely to abandon their online shopping carts, with 57 percent of shoppers leaving the website without purchasing anything. In Australia, the abandoned cart rate is just 27.3 percent.

The research also found that Aussie shoppers returned items purchased online just 3 percent of the time, compared to 7 percent in the U.S.

Aussie retailers may be benefiting from lower levels of competition and customer expectations, reports B&T Marketing and Media.

Additional Forrester Research studies report that although Australian e-tailers have traditionally eschewed engagement tactics such as customer reviews, 34 percent of online retailers in the country intend to begin implementing such measures in the year ahead.