Want your Kiwi website to look great in Australia?

Most small kiwi businesses want to sell to the Australian market, especially to expats who are willing to pay the extra shipping to get a 'taste of home'. The New Zealand market is so small that Sydney alone can match all of Aotearoa, and freight-wise it makes sense to target our nearest destination. 

However there are a few things to consider.

Visual branding relevance

Look and feel can either be intentionally uber-kiwi to promote the made in New Zealand aspect, or imagery and branding may be more pan-global to create a feeling of international relevance.

The cost of shopping from Australia

Product pricing should be slightly higher to allow you to maintain an Australian shipping rate that doesn't make the eyes water... and adding a small margin into product pricing now helps future proof you against the inevitable continual rises in international shipping.

Shipping rates can normally be set lower for Australia than for the rest of the world, so most businesses will set up tiered international shipping.

It's worth considering whether 3PL Warehousing or individual postage will cost you more. This is a volume game and the larger the volumes, the more 3PL makes sense.

Allow Australians to shop online in AUD

As Shopify Partners, we can set an Australian 'Market' in your website which shows Australians prices in Australian dollars, and even applies a different domain to .co.nz - like .com.au or .com - so that Australian based customers have a very comfortable online shopping experience.

Domain names - the .com.au question

There is a new issue to consider with Australian domain names however. Australia now requires that to register a .com.au domain, you must have an ABN, and to have an ABN you must have an Australian ID and business address. 

A work-around is to register as a foreign company with ASIC.  This will give you an ABN - however it does require the appointment of a local agent or power of attorney to a person or Australian company located in Australia, who is authorised to accept, on behalf of the foreign company, service of process and notices.

A third and more simple option is to use a .com domain for everywhere outside New Zealand. With Shopify Markets we can still set up local currency but the .com domain will display.

Targeting the Australian market 

Online marketing is a core aspect of what we do and we have plenty of experience to advise on which channels will work best for you, from Google and Meta ads to Social Media activity and SEO. There are some key strategies to use when targeting Australia and the methodology will ideally be unique to you, and designed to suit your offering, your brand - and your budget!

 

We'd love to talk about how you want to approach the Australian online market, and are happy to give more personalised advice on aspects of marketing to Australia.

Thank you to Annie Spratt for the cover photo.