Melbourne- Tuesday 15 October, 2019: Market Engine has just launched Tourpay, a unique shopping platform to help Australian retailers capture a large chunk of the $40 billion tourism market.
On average, Chinese tourists spend $8,760 per trip to Australia. Australian retailers have a great opportunity to engage Chinese tourists to help them grow revenue figures through these tough conditions.
Market Engine, has been helping Australian retailers to launch and grow their business in China for the past 6 years. With consumer sentiment the lowest it's been in four years, retail spending has slowed domestically and it is not looking to pick up any time soon.
Market Engine CEO James McWhinney said the company has found an opportunity to market to these tourists before they even land in Australia, giving retailers a platform to showcase their unique story and products so that they can drive increased traffic when the tourists land.
"Through surveying thousands of tourists, we've found that quality, unique Australian goods are in high demand. International brands from Nike to Gucci are typically 20-30 per cent cheaper in Australian retail stores than other international markets. Savvy tourists want to take advantage of this. Additionally, the 10 per cent GST refunds they can claim when leaving the country are a strong added incentive," McWhinney said.
"We have discovered that the current GST refund process is far from user-friendly. We have set out to build unique technology that makes the process easier for tourists, as well as helping them to combine their shopping receipts across multiple retailers which enables them to claim GST refunds on all purchases, rather than the current $300 threshold."
Tourpay is a tourist shopping platform that drives traffic to retail stores. It captures consumer data that allows retailers to make repeat sales. Tourpay are currently focused on Chinese tourists, with plans to open this to all international tourists in early 2020. More than 1.4 million Chinese tourists visited Australia last year, spending $11.5 billion.
