ber roughly when the iPhone 6 was launched. I think a shift of usages has moved so much strongly towards the iPhone,” Hall said. The conversion rate is getting close to what’s being seen on tablets and desktops, he said. “It’s very exciting to see that happen. The use of mobile phones for purchasing is going through the roof.” He believes m-commerce will continue its trajectory and expects to see it start overtaking desktop and tablet by 2016, potentially even this year. “It’ll be the primary way of making sales. I know a lot of other online companies are already saying that mobile is the number one way that their customers check out on their systems.” Zanui has a mobile website designed with touch in mind, to be as easy as possible for customers to browse, purchase, and checkout. “Desktop scaled down to mobile doesn’t work well, so we’ve had the dedicated mobile site for two years. We keep working to improve on that,” Hall said. With a focus on furniture and homewares, Zanui launched its own brand around a year ago. “We’re looking for unique pieces that are generally exclusive to the market in Australia – fantastic quality and great value with the idea of putting them at affordable price points so that everybody can bring a bit of style and design into their home.” As a lot of potential is seen in online furniture and homewares, the business is concentrating on growing these categories. Fuelling the growth is the increasing trend of home interiors becoming more of a fashion statement, with the inside of homes reflecting the personality of their inhabitants. Hall says the furniture and homewares space is becoming a much faster paced industry. “Traditionally, the number of times a person would refresh their home or decor would be relatively few.” Nowadays people upgrade much more frequently. “In terms of the accessories and decor pieces, we’re seeing people who want to buy a new cushion for their couch every month. It’s really like a fashion,” he said. “They’re the sort of people who like hosting and entertaining; just like when you go to a party and you need a new dress or outfit, they want to make sure that their home has new accessories and new decor pieces, to make it look new and fresh.” Huge interest and growth have been seen in decorative accents such as throws, rugs, and wall art. “People like to keep their walls interesting and fresh with different pieces of artwork,” Hall said. Statement lighting pieces are also a big trend and seller. “Two years ago we hardly sold any lighting, but lighting now is one of our top 10 categories,” he said. Another business focus of Zanui is creating high quality content for its newsletters and onsite blog, with regular features and articles. More than 100,000 on the database receive three newsletters a week. The company is aiming to be more than a shop. “We want to go beyond simply just being a shop and be a memorable destination which our customers come and revisit, and come back to – to learn different ways to finish their home or simply be inspired even if, at that current point in time, they’re not in the purchasing process or deciding to buy new items.” This story first appeared in Inside Retail PREMIUM issue 2043. To subscribe, click here.