oo.com.au - www.oo.com.au
Eliminating the restriction of available floor space has enabled some online retailers to think big. With around 40,000 products available, oo.com.au claims the position of being Australia and New Zealand's biggest online department store. The company has been enjoying strong growth, with the month of October reaping revenue that was up 40% year on year.
Ozsale - www.ozsale.com.au
Australia's number one members-only shopping club pulled in 3.5 million visitors in September, according to Experian. They are flocking to the Ozsale site to take part in the eight to 10 sales that are held each day, where designer fashion merchandise is offered at sometimes massively discounted prices. The company has recently expanded through opening New Zealand and Singapore websites, with further Asian expansion planned.
StyleTread.com.au - www.styletread.com.au
It only took a year for StyleTread to become Australia's most visited online shoe seller. Customer orders have doubled every three months since its launch in November 2010, with its range growing from 1000 units to more than 50,000 now, including women's jewellery and accessories added in time for the Spring Racing Carnival.
That rapid growth helped StyleTread pick up the Best New Online Retailer of the Year award at the Online Retail Industry Awards in September. The company has invested heavily in its systems, including next day deliver and allowing customers to return shoes up to 100 days after purchase.
Shoes of Prey - www.shoesofprey.com
When it comes to online success, having a great idea certainly helps. Rather than just selling shoes, the team at Shoes of Prey enable buyers to design their own creations, eliminating the problem of buyers being unable to find their preferred item in their preferred size or colour. The site can be used to create more than four trillion designs using a 3D shoe designer that enables buyers to manipulate an almost-photorealistic rendering of their creation.
Shoes of Prey has earned more than $1.5 million since its launch in 2009, with tens of millions of shoes designed. The company has also branched out into online glasses retailing with Sneaking Duck, which features an interactive mirror that shows you what the glasses will look like on you without even touching them.
VetShopOnline - www.vetshoponline.com
Pets.com was one of the most famous US-based flame-outs that followed the 2000 dotcom crash, but its failure wasn't for lack of consumer interest in buying pet products online. Indeed, Sunshine Coast-based VetShopOnline has been running for almost as long (both were founded in 1999) and has experienced a growth spurt of late, with net sales for the 2010 financial year of $13.2 million expected to leap to $16.7 million for the current one – most of which comes from US-based buyers.
The company also expects to add 30,000 new customers this year to bring that number to 150,000. VetShopOnline picked up the inaugural AMBER Award for best online retailer in 2009 and the Telstra Business Awards People's Choice Award for Queensland in 2011.
