By Keri Algar
SYDNEY, NSW: Retail goods account for 29.2 per cent of the online daily deal market, second only to travel and accommodation (29.3 per cent), according to market industry analysts IbisWorld. The market in Australia has so far been dominated by sites such as Catchoftheday.com.au and more recently Stardeals, which is owned and operated by the world’s first online group buying site, Groupon.
Harvey Norman’s own discount site, Harveynormanbigbuys.com.au, entered the discount foray earlier this month and is selling cosmetics. It is up against Catchoftheday.com.au, which is expected to turnover $110 million for the financial year.
While the daily deals market only accounts for 1.8 per cent of online retail spend, it is predicted to double in the next four years and account for $650 million (2.1 per cent). Already in this financial year the online coupon category has grown by 280 per cent.
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The tussle between whether online shoppers are buying for convenience or price could be demarcated by the success or failure of the two different online strategies put forward by Harvey Norman: the daily discount site versus this Easter weekend’s announcement of a centralised online store in the middle of the year.