On 24 September 2014, the Office of the Small Business Commissioner (with support from the Adelaide City Council) hosted a rare line-up of ecommerce industry heavyweights to give South Australian retailers a glimpse at the future of retail and how they can make online work for them.

The presenters included Russell Zimmerman of the Australian Retailers Association, Paul Greenberg of the National Online Retailers Association, Tim Davies of eBay Australia, Brian McDonnell of PayPal Australia and Simone Douglas of Social Media AOK.

Russell Zimmerman and Paul Greenberg both spoke of the emergence of new retail where customers are rewarding retailers who offer multiple touchpoints. Tim Davies highlighted several models for launching online, and explained how easy it can be to get started and succeed on eBay by understanding how online shoppers think. Brian McDonnell revealed some of the tremendous growth happening online, and Simone Douglas explained how social media can help retailers engage better with their customers.

Paul Vallen of the Muses also shared the story of his journey from traditional bricks’n’mortar retail to now offering eBay’s largest range of over 450,000 CD and DVD titles.

The event concluded with all presenters on an expert panel, coordinated by Bernadette Schwerdt (Secrets of Aussie Online Entrepreneurs) with plenty of great questions from the audience.

See more information on the event.