EXPORTS on the web

Christopher Wright [*]

Australian companies exporting to Europe are increasing their use of the Internet as a marketing method.

The World Wide Web has an estimated 270 million individual pages available for information or entertainment.

There are also claims of 70 million Web users around the world (one million of them in Australia) and that the number has doubled this year.

In fact, no one can be sure of Net numbers. What is certain is that the Internet, or WWW, is a vast information resource and source, and, potentially a marketing and promotional tool of unequalled power and flexibility.

The Internet Industry Association says it believes that 34 percent of small businesses have Internet access and 12 percent have a Web site. Among medium-sized business 65 percent have access and just over 30 percent have a site.

For Australian companies seeking to do business in Europe, which has a wide variety of languages and culture, having access to a medium which permits changes on a minute-to-minute basis, and which can use whatever languages you choose, has great commercial potential.

The Australian Federal Government has a number of Web sites designed to inform exporters of the facilities and information available to them from government. Some of the material is available in several European languages

Southcorp, winner of Europe Business Review's "Best Australian Business Achievement in Europe" award in 1997 has an extensive Web site.

Southcorp corporate affairs executive Allan Moeller says each area of the site is designed to service a different audience. He sees the immediacy of the Web as one of its main advantages.

"Wines of Distinction", the company's wine site, provides information in English on a wide range of wines.

Six individual cyber-sites were developed by Southcorp Wines to suit different markets. Southcorp, the largest producer of wines in Australia and the largest exporter, says the 18 wine sites are the most extensive in the world.

The sites feature leading Southcorp brands, including export leaders like Penfolds and Lindemans. The sites cover the history vineyard locations, labels and tasting notes on each brand, as well as commentaries on particular vintages.

Site users can visually visit wineries, vineyards and cellars, and access short movies and archive images. Users can also question online wine consultants.

The sites include further general information about matching wine with food, awards, auction results, an Online Australian wine magazine and a calendar of wine events.

Southcorp believes the sites are central in marketing strategy because up to 70 million people are now reportedly accessing the Internet.

Access to the Australian Wines of Distinction sites is available on:

http://www.australian wines.com.au

http://www.penfolds.com.au

http://www.wynns.com.au

http://www.seaview.com.au

http://www.seppelt.com.au

http://www.lindemans.com.au

Further information and a starter kit on the Internet site is available from Southcorp on (02) 9321 0222.

One of the many Web services, Alta Vista, offers translation from English to French, German, Italian, Spanish and Portuguese. Such computerised translations are not perfect but Web-using European business people do use them.

Of the 50 finalists in the Europe Business Review Awards in 1996 and 1997 - companies which between them generated about A$3 billion in exports - 13 now have Web sites of their own and another seven feature in Web business directories. One wine exporter, Cranswick Estate, has a page targeted specifically at the European market.

On one list of 200 of Australia's largest corporations, 69 have Web sites. By comparison, a random survey of 37 of Europe Business Review's latest list of "Europe's 100 Most Influential Companies" showed 36 had Web sites.

Tasmanian Distilleries, producers of Australia's only single malt whisky, has an attractive, informative Web site.

General Manager Christanna Bevin says the purpose of the site is to increase sales, but it can also service repeat customers who elect to use the Web to order rather than phone or fax.

Ms Bevin hopes that the Web site can increase sales in Europe, which is traditionally a market for Scotch, Irish, American and Japanese whiskies.

Australian IT products also feature on the Web. For example, Sausage Software makes virtually all its sales to 120 countries through the Web.

A Web site can directly address several different target audiences directly. Content of a site can aim at importers, wholesalers and media. A site can range from a sales brochure to on-line buying details.

Telstra, the national Australian telecoms carrier, has one of the biggest Australian sites, including sectors for its London-based European sales office. These detail Telstra services tailored for Europeans, emphasising its expertise in meeting their Asia-Pacific telecommunications needs.

The ability to communicate globally is the main attraction of the Web, but need to match the sales message to the market remains.

Australian companies exporting to Europe should ideally prepare a site using the language of the target country. English may be the lingua franca of EU business but not everyone understands it well enough to be confident to buy from messages in English.

(*.) Christopher Wright is a Sydney-based Web Site designer

WWW.AU.

COM BOOMS

Australian businesses have more than 54,800 active Web sites on the Internet, 1.6 million Net users and online shopping revenues tripled in 1997-98 to $55 million.

Among Internet users in Australia, one million are classed as regular. Home and small business users still outnumbered business users - 0.64 million versus 0.45 million.

Online retailers say shopping on the Net is something most users do rarely. The number of users who tried it at least once is about 43 percent, but only half of that group had tried more than once.

Software, books, music, magazine subscriptions, computer hardware, games and adult entertainment are the main retail sectors.

Of the 500,000 Internet transactions by customers and small businesses in 1997, the median transaction was $70 to $100, including shipping.

In business use of the Net, email is the most popular - 65 percent of all business users.

Many companies (35 percent) believe it is too soon to tell how significant the Web will be in their business.

The US government says that the global explosion in the size and use of the Web has been so great that a new international body should take over and set new rules.

New site name registrations are running at 125,000 a month in the US. Australian registrations are running at about 1,500 a month.

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