Chapters

Summary

Our host, Simon, and guest, Jesse, come from an ecommerce background. Both understand the challenges of running an ecommerce business, so they wanted to do something to help other online store owners. This podcast is one of their methods.

After introductions, they started talking about ecommerce in general. The first topic was about the future of ecommerce. Jesse shared how ecommerce is a growing space. While it was only about 15% compared to the retail marketplace (2018), he brought up how some retail giants such as Myers had taken a hit from it. He then continued to talk about the convenience of ecommerce, as it was “making it easier for people to purchase goods online.” Simon and Jesse both mentioned how they are seeing other retailers being pushed to conform, which was also occurring in Australia.

The topic changed to how ecommerce was looking like in mainland China. With marketing influencers and a shopping version of Twitch, things were looking excellent for the future of ecommerce. They then compared the situation in Australia, specifically how Amazon and eBay had entered the Australian marketplace under disregard.

Simon takes the conversation further into the difficulties that ecommerce was facing in Australia. He brought up same-day delivery, a challenge in Australia because there are fewer capital cities. Plus, it is underpopulated compared to China or America. A long distance to cover with little manpower. Jesse and Simon concluded that Australia would need to invest in technology for transportation.

Lastly, Simon asked Jesse for a tip for ecommerce startups. Jesse covered the topic of deciding on a decent margin. According to his mentor, a safe margin is anything above 30%. However, he also mentions that it is common to get a profit lower than 30% during the first 2 years, due to your initial infrastructure purchases. If it starts to get above from your 3rd or 4th year, you’re likely on the right track.