We're excited to share the news that we're participating in our first-ever international conference, the Online Retailer Conference & Expo in Sydney, Australia, June 6 - 10, 2010.
Tom Funk will be a featured speaker in the Search and Email Marketing track. He may also participate in a panel discussion or offer live site critiques.
Conference organizer National Media made a big splash when it launched the Online Retailer conference series just last year: "As the first major business forum for the internet retailing
and e-commerce industry in Australia, we received over 3,000
registrations," says event director Mark Harvey, "which led Online Retailer to debut as the second
largest online retailing event in the world."
The 2010 event has been bolstered with the inclusion of an extra
day, more international speakers, sessions, peer-to-pee
r
roundtables, networking events and exhibitors. The Main Conference
will be held over two days and feature over 50 education sessions
across six themed learning tracks. A new one-day pre-conference
intensive focused on search and email marketing has also been added
to the overall program.
The Expo Hall will showcase the latest e-commerce technology and
e-retailing solutions, and provide retailers with a venue to
compare, evaluate and discuss their needs with leading e-commerce
and digital marketing vendors.
Another key development for 2010 is the launch of the Online
Retail Industry Awards (ORIA), an initiative to recognise and
reward excellence in e-commerce retailing. The ORIAs are the only
awards in Australasia to honour the top online and multichannel
retailing performers and are already being described as a pivotal
occasion in the progression of the e-retailing industry.
"For experienced online retailers or for those just breaking
into to the world of e-commerce, Online Retailer 2010 will offer
retail executives an unparalleled learning experience and the
chance to leverage the collective knowledge of the e-retailing
community." Harvey says.
According to Forrester Research, Australian online spending is
expected to grow to $32 billion by 2012. The Australian Payments Clearing Association (APCA) has found
that almost 50% of the country's total online spend goes toward international purchases. That, says Harvey, indicates that Australian retailers have some catching up to do in order to better compete in ecommerce. And that's an educational mission the Online Retailer conference aims to fulfill.
"It's unfortunate that the current lack of local big
brand retailers selling online is forcing shoppers to buy from
overseas competitors," he says. "We are some years behind the US
and UK markets, when there is no reason why we should be."
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