(Episode 545; 9 minutes 28) Frost &Sullivan estimates total consumer e-commerce expenditure in the 2010 calendar year (excluding online services such online ticketing and events, travel, music downloads and financial services) will reach $12 billion. That’s just 3 percent of total domestic retail sales. They’re forecasting moderate annual growth of just 10 percent over the next four years.
(Episode 544; 11 minutes 57) The old notion of limiting your distribution to one or two channels has had its day. People expect to be able to communicate — and collaborate — with your business across multiple channels, including online and mobile channels.
By 2011 there will be 5 billion mobile subscribers on the planet. It's an incredible figure, so what is fuelling this growth and who will win the most from it?
Discussing the future of mobility I'm joined by:
- Warren Chaisatien, strategic marketing manager at Ericsson
- Henry Calvert, acting managing director of Product House at Singtel Optus
- Paul Brooks, owner of independent consultancy practise Layer 10 Consulting
(Episode 543; 14 minutes 18) Late payments can have a significant impact on the working capital of your business. Mike Rich from Attaché Software outlines 10 key strategies to reduce your debtor levels.
(Episode 542; 14 minutes 07) Kim Seeling Smith says employees often leave for another job, not because of the company but because of their manager. That means there is an opportunity to hang-on to good quality staff if you keep an interest in them.
(Episode 541; 20 minutes 09) The higher you go in an organisation the greater the level of denial about a manager's ability to communicate. Everyone thinks they're good at it and there's no room for improvement. That might be changing, fortunately.
So, how do you improve your skills in this area? Darren Briggs says there are just three key elements to successful internal communications - an inspiring message, inspirational leadership and inspired people.
(Episode 540; 12 minutes 45) Australian retailers have been fairly slow to embrace online, but now we’re catching up with what’s happening in the US and Europe. That said, they still need to work smarter if they are to survive.
Steven Noble explains his findings for his Forrester Research paper “Online Retailing in Australia 2010: Marketing, Merchandising and Customer Service”
Shouldn't the telecommunications industry be listening more to what customers want and need, instead of relying on the archetypal "build it and they'll come" mentality?
In the ZDNet Australia studio I discuss how the industry approach needs to change with two winners of last week's Communications Alliance ACOMM Awards: Brendan Coady, partner at Maddocks Lawyers, and Phil Smith, general manager at Opticomm.
(Episode 539; 14 minutes 24) Telstra's Rocky Scopelliti says the banks are not serving the micro business sector well. The reason is the increasingly mobile workforce expects to interact with businesses through multiple channels and to have access to an expert on-demand.
(Episode 538; 11 minutes 05) The indications are that Aussie households are ready to start spending again, dipping further into debt as they go. I talk to Christine Christian about the latest Dun & Bradstreet Credit Expectations Survey, which shows how we intend to pay for our anticipated shopping spree. One in five households expect their debt levels to increase in coming months.
