We have delivered our 1 millionth parcel to our customer and we remain focused on our goal of supplying exciting and always changing products, all at genuinely amazing prices.

There have been numerous factors in our success; a strong team, great products at great prices, fast shipping and of course, our safety and security features for shopping online.

We have had to battle against those fraudulent companies that make people think that the virtual world is a place where identity theft runs rampant. As a result, we will collect minimal information about our customers, so that they can feel comfortable about shopping online with DealsDirect.com.au.

2. Passion

When Mike and I first established DealsDirect.com.au four years ago, we had around four lines of product. Today, the site stocks more than 4,000 products. Our huge range gives customers a reason to keep coming back to DealsDirect.com.au, which has helped us generate relationships with our customers. Maintaining a wide product range with guaranteed low prices has been critical to our success.

Our dedicated team of buyers constantly hunts for quality products available at low prices to ensure that we can appeal to anyone who loves a bargain. Alibaba.com has been helpful in this aspect as the team source for products on it. Alibaba.com is a ‘one stop shop’ for sourcing professionals. It provides a comprehensive and easy to navigate experience, where you can find, literally, anything.

Identifying our customers’ needs has always been an instinctual process for the team at DealsDirect.com.au. We wouldn’t buy anything that we wouldn’t use ourselves. We spend a lot of time researching our market. This happens in several ways, both formally – through surveys and sales analysis – and informally – through word-of-mouth and anecdotal evidence. By mixing our approaches to research, we are able to tailor sales and marketing campaigns to their needs.

We focus a lot of our attention on improving our reach and also on generating repeat purchases from our existing customers. In that regard, our daily e-newsletters are central to our sales strategy. We have an email database of half a million customers (which we are constantly trying to grow) and we send a newsletter to all customers every day, highlighting any new bargains on the site.

We strive to assist our customers in a timely, efficient and satisfactory manner at all times. From the moment customers enter the site, it is our job to ensure they have a positive experience. Beyond saving 30-80% off retail prices, customers also need to enjoy their experience shopping online, so we have introduced a range of practices to ensure the DealsDirect.com.au experience is simple and fun.

When Mike and Paul met in 2000, Mike was only 19 years old and Paul was in his forties. Despite the age difference, the pair shared an enthusiasm for e-commerce and knew its potential was largely untapped in the Australian market. With Paul’s background as an auctioneer and Mike’s love of all things technological, the pair believed they could create a successful business.

When we first started DealsDirect.com.au, we could see that the Internet brought efficiencies to the marketplace that traditional retail was unable to provide. With a lower cost base, we were very confident that we could deliver unbeatable value to our customers, all the time. We remain committed to developing a low cost structure, low margin business model which ensures we are sustainable and profitable, while bringing prices to customers in Australia that have never been seen before. We have a strong affinity with delivering the very best deals to customers in regional Australia.

In the online sphere, the design of our site is critical to our sales strategy. We have designed our website to ensure we up-sell at every opportunity, providing shoppers with access to information about recently purchased items, similar items to what they are currently purchasing, indications of what other customers have bought along with the item they intend buying, our top selling products and much more. Ease of navigation is critical to ensuring people remain on site and purchase from DealsDirect.com.au.

To reach customers in the virtual sphere, we invest heavily with Google, sponsoring links and buying ads. We also advertise with Telstra BigPond newsletters and conduct promotions for BigPond members when opportunities arise.

3. Growth & Accomplishments

We are Australia’s number one online department store by web traffic, and around half of our products are sourced directly from China.

Back in 1999, my co-founder, Mike Rosenbaum and I had taken to selling goods online using eBay. In October 2004, we established DealsDirect.com.au, a website with a small range of discounted products, using a fixed price format. Our vision of creating Australia’s biggest online department store was based upon re-creating the business model of overseas website Amazon.com, where customers did not have to bid for products, but choose from a range of products that were all available at guaranteed low prices. With a head office and warehouse in Sydney and a customer base spread around the nation, DealsDirect.com.au was an immediate hit. In less than four years, DealsDirect.com.au has emerged as one of the fastest growing Australian online shopping destinations and is currently ranked the No. 1 most visited Australian online ‘Department Store’ in the Shopping and Classifieds category (Hitwise). DealsDirect.com.au now outranks global giant, Amazon as Australia’s favourite online shopping destination, testament to the fact that many Australians 'Love a Bargain'.

Starting out as a partnership selling a few items on eBay, DealsDirect.com.au has grown dramatically during the past four years and has constantly had to hire more staff to deal with our growth. We have now grown to employ 75 full time staff members.

Most importantly, we have (very quickly) grown to become Australia’s biggest online shopping destination. We have an e-Database of nearly half a million Australians and have had more than 1,000,000 customers since our inception.

We have won several awards. Hitwise announced DealsDirect.com.au as the number one website for 2007 for the third consecutive year. This award cemented our position as Australia’s biggest online department store. For the past three years, www.dealsdirect.com.au was ranked No. 1 by visits among all Australian websites in the Hitwise Shopping and Classifieds - Department Stores industry.

The following awards highlight the success and rapid growth of DealsDirect.com.au since 2004.

• ARA Australian Retailer of the Year Finalist

  Our rise as Australia's favourite online store continued when we were nominated as a finalist in the Australian Retail Awards. We had the honour of being nominated for the big gong - Australian Retailer of the Year! This is a big achievement particularly as "bricks and mortar" stores tend to dominate these awards. Hoorah!

• BRW Fast 100, 2007

  The BRW Fast 100 list recognises Australia's fastest growing companies, on a year-on-year basis. It's a fantastic feat to make the Fast 100 - and something we managed to do in 2006 with the support of all our customers. But to make the BRW Fast 100 two years in a row, well, that was an amazing achievement.

• Netguide Web Award 2006

  DealsDirect.com.au was highly commended in the Best E-Tail Site Category.

• NetGuide Web Award 2005

  In 2005, NetGuide Magazine named DealsDirect.com.au the Best Small Business Website in Australia. We were particularly pleased with this award, as it was voted for by thousands of NetGuide readers.

  These awards highlight the success and rapid growth of DealsDirect.com.au since 2004. There have been numerous factors in our success; a strong team, great products at great prices, fast shipping and of course, our safety and security features for shopping online. We have tried to communicate our key brand qualities in our customer service by being easy to deal with (fast shipping, no parking issues), having something for every Australian, and also by being fair (with our returns policies) and always fun to deal with.

  Our growth has also been aligned with the boom in broadband throughout Australia. As more households and businesses received faster Internet access, more were willing to explore the possibilities of the virtual world, including shopping online.

  Vision
  At DealsDirect.com.au, we've always had a clear mission to offer our valued customers genuine online deals 24/7, all year round, with our dynamic range and amazing prices. Part of that is providing smooth, secure transactions, high quality support and prompt delivery, ensuring we remain Australia’s number one online department store.

  Our vision is for DealsDirect.com.au to retain its position as Australia's largest online department store and to grow our product range to be the most extensive of all department stores, both on and offline.

  In ten years’ time, we hope that DealsDirect.com.au will be the first stop for all Australians looking to buy from a department store. We want to challenge Myer, Target, K-Mart and the other traditional department stores by making DealsDirect.com.au Australia’s number one department store. A ‘next generation’ establishment business.

  4. Innovation

  Continuing to find new and exciting products has been a central and ongoing challenge. As DealsDirect.com.au grew, an increasing number of competitors tried to replicate our business model, so we needed to ensure we had the broadest product range at the best possible prices to combat those challenges. 

  We conduct promotions from time-to-time with third-parties, as well as conducting our own viral promotional activities, which are generally focused on growing our database.

  On the whole, we try to keep ourselves at the forefront of the market. We are the biggest online retailer in Australia so we need to be the innovators, the leaders, the trend-setters, to stay at the top and retain our market position.

  5. Social Responsibility

  The company remains focused on putting back into the community. DealsDirect.com.au donates about $10,000 every year to various charities. On top of that, DealsDirect.com.au has recently begun implementing policies and procedures to reduce its carbon footprint, including purchasing carbon credits to completely offset emissions associated with posting goods to customers. Best of all, the Directors agreed that this cost should be absorbed by DealsDirect.com.au rather than passing onto the consumer. Mike and I firmly believe that it is our responsibility to ensure that DealsDirect.com.au only has a positive impact on its environment and hope that they can set an example for other businesses, showing that being successful and socially responsible are not two incompatible ideals.