You've got to try harder Myer

The Commonwealth Bank has estimated that Australians spent $9.5 billion dollars on online purchases last year and retail giant Myer has decided it wants a slice of the cake. An announcement earlier in the month has confirmed that Australia's largest department store has decided to bite the bullet and cut the cost of shipping for goods and services purchased from their online store. This move is an effort to sway the Aussie men and women away from overseas retail stores and back to their home turf.

As I am sure you've all heard, the retail sector has been having a bit of a hard time trying to navigate through a number of economic changes as of recent times, one including the increased value of our Aussie dollar. All of a sudden we feel like millionaires, when for the first time, in a long time we can shop through American online retailers and feel like we are getting a bargain.

So is Myers move to cut shipping costs really going to sway us back? Personally as a 'struggling uni student', if I know I can purchase something at a lower cost internationally, I'm in. My highest priority at this point is not really to support our local companies and keep the Aussie dollar in Australia; it’s to keep it in my bank account.

Myer has to realise that we all want more bang for our buck. So by offering free shipping on goods and services that I can drive five minutes away to collect myself, isn't really going to work. Bigger price cuts and better sales promotions are needed to support their online and in store service, after all with the rise in overseas online shopping, we are all more aware of the true value of these products.

The growth and popularity of online shopping has received a considerable amount of media coverage over recent times and our online shopping habits are expected to grow by over 25% in the next five years. With this high rate of growth, I think it's time that major retailers in Australia pull their finger out and realise that if they aren't willing to present competitive prices with those available online, then they are going to continue in their slump.