In this episode of Work Conversations, Gavin Becker sits down for a conversation with Scott Tindall, Director of Marketing Solutions at digital marketing agency, SixSix.

Scott has been working in consumer marketing within the retail and ecommerce space for more than 15 years, leading and implementing marketing and advertising strategy for some of Australia’s leading brands, including retail giant Myer, Roll’d and Crown Lager.

In this episode, Scott talks about ecommerce’s steady rise in growth, before being “turbo-charged” by the pandemic. And he’s not wrong, with Australia Post recording a 90 percent increase in the volume of deliveries across the country compared with this time last year. Food and liquor, health and beauty, and home and gardening goods were the categories that have been some of the most popular, with purchases doubling over the first three weeks of July. According to Scott, this doesn’t just affect the frontend of the industry, but also warehousing, shipping and logistics, which has grown by approximately 25,000 jobs during this time.

There has been a shift in consumer behaviour since the start of the pandemic, as Scott explains, which sees a growing number of people more inclined to research and shop online rather than go into a physical store to purchase. This has given smaller ecommerce companies a leg up, allowing them to compete with larger brands that have a primary focus on their physical retail stores. In this way, Scott predicts that the retail environment will adapt to this changing behaviour, and will likely move towards a curated, showroom-like experience. As opposed to ecommerce, which can champion range, convenience and accessibility, what brick and mortar stores can give shoppers is an “in real life” experience, something they will need to utilise to their advantage to remain relevant in the growing digital world.

The advancement of Software as a Service (SaaS), such as Shopify and Magenta, have made it easier than ever for retailers to set themselves up online, and job seekers who are skilled in the likes of Google AdWords, Facebook and Instagram, will find job opportunities within this space. However, with most organisations utilising these forms of digital marketing nowadays, Scott believes the best way for ecommerce retailers to really distinguish themselves in the competitive marketplace, is through engaging EDMs and effective online user experiences.

Finally, Scott explains that while there is still a place for traditional media, there is a growing importance placed on data collection and being able to exactly identify which ads are generating revenue for the company.