American Express’ latest Shop Small campaign urges shoppers to do their Christmas shopping with small businesses this year to help accelerate their recovery. If each person purchased a $100 gift at a small business, it would deliver an additional $2 billion boost to the sector. This rally for support comes as Gill Minervini, the newly appointed festival director of Sydney’s most iconic light extravaganza, Vivid, creates spectacular festive window displays in three small businesses, bringing joy to local communities and much-needed foot traffic into stores.

To support the campaign, new research by American Express shows the potential opportunity to help reinvigorate the small business sector is even greater. The data shows that shoppers are intending to dig deep this Christmas to potentially spend, on average, $220 per gift for loved ones. If this happened, and just one of these gifts was purchased at small businesses, a potential $4.4 billion would make its way to the sector.

In a sign of just how critical the festive trading period will be for small business operators, the research shows it will be make-or-break for nearly one third (30%) of Australian small businesses. These operators say that without strong sales they won’t survive. Another 38% say that weak sales will force their hand at having to make serious changes to their business.

Lisa Belcher, Vice President of Small Merchants for American Express says, “Our research shows that almost one third (31%) of Australian owned and operated small businesses say that this year’s Covid crisis has been the hardest period their business has ever endured. Compared to last year, average sales are down 35% and operators are pulling out all the stops to make this Christmas successful. We launched Shop Small in Australia in 2013 and this annual call for support for small businesses has never been more important.”

“For this year’s campaign, we were inspired by the spectacular window displays traditionally seen in larger retailers around the world. On a slightly smaller scale, we are delivering the same level of delight and magic to local communities but most importantly bringing customers, ready to spend, through the doors of small businesses.” 

Synology has unveiled the next evolution of its on-premises and cloud solutions, announcing DSM 7.1, Surveillance Station 9.0, SRM 1.3, and significant updates to C2 Backup, C2 Identity, C2 Password, C2 Storage, and C2 Transfer. Exciting new features have been announced for each Synology product, with substantial improvements to the user experience, reliability, and scalability across the board.

On-prem

Large-scale data management

DSM 7.1 will bring improved file sharing performance and convenience with the introduction of SMB multichannel and DFS support. Multi-site businesses can leverage the C2 Storage supported Hybrid Share to reduce bandwidth constraints and make collaborative work simpler. In conjunction with Synology Drive’s unified file portal and redesigned mobile app, remote teams have complete control of their data no matter where they are.

For system administrators, more users and devices should not mean more management overhead. Active Insight, the cloud monitoring and troubleshooting service introduced with DSM 7.0, is gaining new conveniences. Hyper Backup tasks from each device can now be monitored directly from Active Insight, ensuring that backups are never forgotten. More details on system updates and login activity analysis put important information front and center. 

New bandwidth control capabilities and expanded client triggers in Active Backup for Business, plus support for Virtual DSM deployment in MailPlus give IT teams more tools to reduce operational complexities. DSM 7.1 will also introduce support for full DSM backups, providing another way for administrators to protect and restore entire Synology devices.

Faster, simpler, and more secure

Surveillance Station 9.0 sports a refined user interface that provides users with all the tools they need, faster than ever before. The new Monitor Center centralizes all important feeds with convenient playback controls and alerts. Better map integration means even multi-site deployments can be efficiently monitored, providing security teams with precise information and easy-to-act-on graphics when every second counts. 

Setting up cameras has also never been simpler with the new onboarding wizard. Thanks to the option to import and copy settings, deploying hundreds of cameras can be done within minutes. 

Improvements to Central Management System (CMS), including flexible device update options, simultaneous dual recording, and HTTPS/SRTP support make it simpler to make each installation more secure and resilient. 

A new Synology C2 Surveillance service will enable homes and businesses to simultaneously and securely record surveillance footage to the C2 cloud. With under five seconds of lost footage, C2 Surveillance will ensure that footage is always accessible, even after a catastrophic event or in case of theft of the on-prem system. 

The new DVA1622 NVR makes Synology’s suite of advanced AI-powered surveillance analytics such as face recognition and people counting more accessible for smaller stores or even SOHO environments. Together with Surveillance Station 9.0, DVA series NVRs also gain license plate recognition capabilities.

Multi-gig wireless, VLANs, and more

SRM 1.3 and the Wi-Fi 6 Synology RT6600ax router introduce faster networking and greatly expand network management capabilities. SRM 1.3 ships with full VLAN support through an intuitive interface that anyone can use to partition and separate their devices, including IoT sensors and other potentially insecure gadgets. 

The flagship RT6600ax tri-band router is one of the first to support the expanded 5.9GHz spectrum, delivering much more room and uninterrupted operation for 160MHz devices. The 2.5GbE port ensures support for faster uplinks and internet connectivity. 

A redesigned DS router app brings nearly all of the management capabilities of SRM into the smartphone. Creating new wireless networks, configuring parental control or web filtering, setting traffic control schemes, and more are now just a few taps away. 

And beyond

Synology also announced research and development into scale-out file servers to meet even greater requirements, whether for capacity, service availability, or management needs.

Cloud

A secure cloud, for everything

Launched just a few months ago, C2 Backup, Identity, Password, and Transfer are standalone services to solve specific IT challenges in a simple and accessible way.

C2 Backup simplifies device and business-critical data backup, even for teams working remotely. Bare-metal backup coupled with convenient file-level recovery through an intuitive online portal ensure fast and flexible data protection.

C2 Identity replaces traditional directory services with a secure and low-latency hybrid approach, with C2 servers providing management, SSO services, and locally deployed LDAP nodes for local, intranet-only servers and devices. The included Windows and macOS device management capabilities provide administrators with the tools they need to secure their teams.

C2 Password makes password management simple and accessible for all. The service is free for individuals and only 4.99 USD a year for password sharing between up to six accounts — all without limitations to the number of devices connected. 

C2 Transfer makes sharing sensitive files with external parties easy and secure. Besides implementing identity validation, C2 Transfer encrypts all files locally, making sure that data never lands in the wrong hands even if shared links are exposed.

Synology is constantly introducing new features to each C2 service, maximizing convenience and on-demand scalability without burdening users with maintenance. Multiple data residency options — including a new data center in Taiwan, which was recently added to the existing ones in Frankfurt and Seattle — enable administrators to achieve maximum compliance with local data retention regulations. In 2022, Synology will be introducing C2 Object storage service for S3-compatible applications.

All the details

The Synology 2022 AND BEYOND event, premiered on Dec 3 01:00 GMT+8, goes into more detail and introduces even more features and services. Watch the keynote and seven dedicated sessions online at https://sy.to/2022.

Availability

Synology DSM 7.1 and Surveillance Station 9.0 will be released in Q1 2022 as public previews.

SRM 1.3 will debut on the RT6600ax router in Q1 2022. Support for RT2600ac and MR2200ac will be added in Q2 2022.

More detailed information on other features and services will be available at a later date.

eGuarantee, Australia’s exclusive distributor of lease bonds – a digitised, non-collateralised alternative to bank guarantees for securing commercial leases – has issued more than $8 million in lease bonds in Australia and currently an additional $9 million having passed credit and about to be issued. These lease bonds are providing access to capital at a time when cash flow, resilience and growth remain key priorities in response to COVID-19. *Across Australia, only two out of five (40 percent) small businesses say they have sufficient cash flow to navigate the end of lockdowns. This figure drops to 21 percent of small businesses employing 26-50 staff.

With an estimated $7 billion tied up in bank guarantees, eGuarantee’s mission is to disrupt the commercial leasing sector and bring a more equitable balance to the tenant-landlord relationship, unlocking value for both parties.

eGuarantee Co-Founder and CEO, Shaun Sergay says the opportunity is clear and the solution is powerful, especially at a time when both business and the economy is relying on access to cash to recover and grow.

“Lease bonds, popular in European and American markets, challenge the status quo in Australia, presenting financial and operational benefits to tenants and landlords. Lease bonds are the cheapest form of non-collateralised credit, sitting on average at five percent less than an unsecured bank overdraft. But the game changer for tenants lies in the ability to redirect a sizable amount of money secured with a bank back into the business,” he said.

“Where bank guarantees require up-front cash or collateral, the company’s lease bond doesn’t. We issue bonds from $20,000 up to $7.5 million, switching to a lease bond can provide businesses with a significant cash flow advantage and can help landlords ease the lease security burden for their tenants and assist in making their tenants more robust through access to increased working capital. With tenants achieving a rate of return on the business’ working capital, greater than the bond fee, making the switch brings a really clear business advantage.”

“Commercial leasing is an industry ripe for innovation, and lease bonds provide an intuitive and efficient digital experience. While bank guarantees can have tenants waiting up to six weeks, lease bonds draw upon an advanced proptech platform to process within 20 minutes, making it one of the most efficient ways to get capital back into businesses to drive growth and profit,” he said.

The local arm of global corporate advisory consultancy, Morrow Sodali recently accessed a lease bond using eGuarantee for its new Pitt Street office. For Managing Director (APAC), Angus Booth the impact was ‘significant to their business growth, and he believes they’ll be reaping the benefits for a long time to come.

“We recognised that the COVID-19 pandemic offered a unique opportunity to enhance the skill set of our people by hiring great new talent while our competitors were making staff redundant. The lease bond allowed us to unlock $500,000 of working capital which we have invested back into the business and our people to facilitate growth. This contributed to a number of initiatives that have resulted in us more than doubling the headcount in our ESG advisory team, supporting our expansion into new markets such as Seoul, Hong Kong and Japan and making enhancements to our technology platforms, overall improving our ability to meet the evolving needs of our clients in the APAC region,” said Mr Booth.

“Our landlord, Charter Hall, provided the flexibility and support to use the lease bond, and we’re grateful to partner with a landlord who sees the significant and material benefits which will positively impact our business and allow us to grow within their portfolio over time,” concluded Mr Booth.

Co-founder and Executive Chairman of eGuarantee, Cedric Fuchs, a real estate and insurance industry veteran who co-founded property investment giant Charter Hall, believes that lease bonds will revolutionise the leasing landscape. 

“It’s the first and only alternative which presents benefits for both tenants and landlords, and brings real value, releasing tenants from traditional bank guarantees, while introducing operational efficiencies by digitising the customer journey, doing away with paper-based processes.“eGuarantee is the exclusive Australian distributor of the Assetinsure Leasebond product. Leasebonds are issued by Assetinsure as agent for an international insurer and are reinsured by a panel of globally rated AA/A- reinsurers. Being issued on behalf of international insurers and reinsurers, Leasebonds are not APRA regulated products but Assetinsure, being an APRA regulated entity provides customers the comfort of dealing directly with a regulated Australian entity.”

“The way we emerge from this pandemic will be key to our future prosperity and growth. Our first of its kind lease bond offering provides businesses with quick access to existing funds that can help them to get back on their feet, support growth strategies, and empower positive leasing relationships with landlords.”

“The ability to unlock capital currently held up in bank guarantees, presents enormous opportunities for businesses while having the potential to reinvest billions into the Australian economy. With Australia expecting to see a contraction in our next quarter GDP reading, encouraging capital spending will be a critical component in our post-lockdown exit strategy,” said Mr Fuchs.

We’ve also assisted many tenants to convert their bank guarantees mid-lease to lease bonds, which has led to several major landlords initiating deeper discussions around lease bonds and the eGuarantee system adoption.

Mr Fuchs also makes the point of the many advantages for landlords, including the digitisation of landlord portfolios of bank guarantees, agnostic of bank, to provide a full digital experience. 

To learn more about leasing a property read Small Business Answers guide.

D-Link has expanded its selection of Long Range (250m) Power over Ethernet (PoE) switches, with the addition of a full Gigabit range (DGS F-Series) to complement the existing 10/100Mbps products (DES F-Series) on offer, which have proven to be very popular in the local market since their initial launch in early 2021.

Designed as part of D-Link’s entry level Unmanaged PoE Switching solutions, the DGS F-Series sports Gigabit (1000Mbps) on all ports. In contrast, the DES range comes with 100Mbps per port, as well as Gigabit uplinks. All models have enhanced features not normally associated with an Unmanaged Switch including Long Range PoE, VLAN, QoS and Auto PoE Reset functionality.

The ideal Switches for Surveillance Systems Integrators and companies who deploy Camera and Monitoring solutions, these D-Link F-Series Switches meet this market’s requirements head-on.

With many companies utilising IP Cameras with ever-increasing resolution requirements for better image quality, there is a strong need for PoE Switches to have higher throughput than the 10/100Mbps ports that the DES F-Series range provides, and D-Link has now addressed this market need with the expanded full Gigabit DGS F-Series range launching this month.

The 250 metre PoE capability of the Switches also satisfies the needs of Surveillance Systems Integrators dealing with deployments where a Camera or a Wi-Fi Access Point needs to be installed at a distant location where the standard 100 metre cable length is a limitation. Using the Long Range PoE feature of these clever Switches efficiently overcomes this issue.
 
The F-Series Switches are also designed for installations where IP Cameras are connected to the same network as other devices and require better security than a standard Unmanaged switch provides. Additionally, when mixing video traffic with other traffic, users often want to prioritise video streams to avoid video stutter and dropped frames. To overcome this, the D-Link F-Series Switches offer a simple VLAN solution whereby users can easily isolate ports from each other, without the need for additional configuration, alongside automatic QoS to prioritise video and voice traffic. 
 
Another valuable feature of both the DES and DGS F-Series is the ability to reset connected PoE devices using the automatic PoE reset function, or AI PoE. Suppose a device, for whatever reason, stops responding. In that case, the Switch automatically detects this. It resets the electric current supplied to the device momentarily, causing the device to reboot itself, bringing it back online hopefully in good working order once again.

In short, the DES F-Series Switches and DGS F-Series Gigabit Switches offer an affordable, high-performance PoE solution with enhanced features over a standard Unmanaged Switch. The F-Series range also offers better throughput than many comparable Switches as well as valuable features including Long Range PoE, VLAN, QoS and automatic PoE reset support.

DGS F-Series and DES F-Series Switches Smart Features

VLAN

Isolates ports from each other. Adds security and improves network performance by constraining broadcast traffic. With a flick of a button, you can isolate Switch ports from each other, whilst still allowing the devices to communicate via the uplink ports. This feature not only adds security but can also effectively suppress network storms and improve network performance.

Extended Range

Enables Long Reach PoE+ support and the capability to supply 802.3af/at PoE and data connectivity on cables up to 250 metres long (Cat 5 or better cabling is recommended).

AI PoE

The AI PoE feature automatically restarts a remote device by disabling and re-enabling PoE on the port. It detects the remote device has locked up and there is no incoming traffic. 

QoS

Enables application prioritisation. The new Switches’ performance is enhanced with a QoS (Quality of Service) feature to ensure that critical network services such as IP Surveillance, VoIP and IPTV are always prioritised. This feature makes the Switch a perfect solution for IP Camera and VoIP applications.

Availability and pricing

The new DGS F-Series Switches and DES F-Series Gigabit Switches are available from www.dlink.com.au and from all authorised D-Link partners and resellers for the following RRP:

DES-F1006P-E – RRP AU$79.95

DGS-F1006P-E – RRP AU$179.95

DES-F1010P-E – RRP AU$129.95

DGS-F1010P-E – RRP AU$249.95

DES-F1018P-E – RRP AU$349.95

DGS-F1018P-E – RRP AU$549.95

DES-F1026P-E – RRP AU$429.95

DGS-F1026P-E – RRP AU$629.95

The small business Payment Times Reports Register has been released. The register shows how reporting entities – mostly large businesses and large government enterprises – pay their small business suppliers. 

Under the Payment Times Reporting Act 2020 (the Act), the Regulator must maintain a register of payment times reports on the Payment Times Reports Register. It must be made available for public inspection, without charge, on the internet. 

The Act requires all reports given to the Regulator to be published on the register unless it contains erroneous information or is not in the public interest. Where identified, the Regulator has redacted this information or withheld the report from publication. In contrast, the Regulator engages with the affected reporting entity.  

A missing report from the register does not necessarily mean that an entity is not compliant with its obligations under the Act. The absence of a report may be attributable to any of the following:

• lodgement is not due for that reporting entity,
• the entity may not be required to report under the Act,
• the Regulator may not have reviewed the report and released it for publication. 

The Payment Times Reporting Scheme creates transparency around the payment practices of large business entities. It gives small businesses access to information on large businesses’ payment times and techniques. This helps small businesses make informed decisions about who they do business with. 

The register will be regularly updated. Reports from 1 January 2021 to 30 June 2021 are now available on the Payment Times Reports Register website.

Read Small Business Answers guide to invoicing.

A powerful new Artificial Intelligence-driven anti-fraud capability designed to stop online crooks in their tracks was today switched on by Australia’s sovereign domestic debit payments scheme, eftpos, as the organisation doubles on security smarts to help level the battlefield for consumers, merchants and crime fighters.

eftpos CEO, Mr Stephen Benton, said the shift to AI-driven predictive fraud scoring is a crucial milestone in the evolution of Australia’s digital payments ecosystem and brings to life features designed to keep Australians safe in the Digital Economy.

eftpos’ new sovereign online capability, which includes dedicated Australian anti-fraud measures, follows the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision in October that Australian banks are expected to offer and promote Least Cost Routing (LCR) in online by the end of 2022.

“This built-for-purpose fraud detection engine uses artificial intelligence and machine learning to bolster security for eCommerce and is part of a $100m eftpos funded a digital upgrade to deliver the next generation of secure payments technology,” Mr Benton said. 

“The anti-fraud capability has widespread support from banks and FinTechs across the country and will scale quickly in the Australian market next year to provide real benefits for merchants and consumers as eftpos online market penetration grows.

“eftpos’ extension further into online payments will quickly drive much needed large-scale competition and place downward pressure on transaction costs. Currently, we are well known as the lowest cost debit payments provider for retailers and small businesses at physical shops, and we want to develop the same reputation in the online environment.”

Mr Benton said eftpos’ security kit bag now included the new security engine, two-factor authentication (3DS), tokenisation, enhanced Disputes and Chargebacks capability and a digital identity solution, connectID.

Before today’s announcement, eftpos was already available online for some Card On File payments where banks have implemented the service for their merchant customers, and Deposits and Withdrawal payments via the Beem It mobile wallet. Since launching the eftpos digital service that enables LCR last year, it has been subject to zero fraud.

eftpos’ new online counter-fraud capability comes as part of a partnership with global leader in financial crime prevention,  counter-fraud scoring and integrity intelligence Featurespace, based in Cambridge England, which was co-founded by Australian National University engineering and information technology alumni Dave Excell.

Mr Excell said employing self-learning technology to accurately predict individual behaviour in real-time is the only meaningful way to protect people and organisations from the rising threats of fraud and financial crime.

“We are honoured that eftpos has put their trust in Featurespace to help provide a safe and secure payments environment for Australia’s increasingly digital economy,” Mr Excell said.

Learn more about eftpos in Small Business Answers guide.

The COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the nature of how and where we work forever. With no end to remote working in sight and the Great Resignation threatening to sweep across Australia, business leaders need to re-evaluate their strategies to attract and retain valuable people. But what will it take to design and create a more successful, inclusive, and flexible workplace to empower your employees? Here are three key steps to take to ensure that staff remains happy and productive:

1. Set a new purpose 

Many companies have already made physical changes to their offices such as spacing desks further apart, offering hot-desking to decrease density, and instituting new health and safety procedures like additional cleaning and touchless entry.

Now, the harder work begins. Companies must implement changes as to how they use office space. In a world where remote work has proven to be effective and is preferred by many employees, the entire purpose of the office is shifting from individual work to group work. As well as turning the office into an in-person collaboration hub where teams can meet to brainstorm and exchange ideas, it’s also about ensuring that the space is connected to the outside world in a way that includes fully remote workers. 

The key to this new design is in creating an experience that is the same for those in the room and those who aren’t. “Meeting equality” means everyone has the tools they need to be included and empowered to participate. 

Supporting your employees’ workstyle preferences and meeting them where they are after months of extreme work-life challenges is critical for retention, satisfaction, and overall business performance.  

2. Equip staff with the right gear

With some employees remaining permanently remote-only, not everyone will be able to attend in-person collaboration days. Yet there are ways to make work-from-home team members feel like they’re in the office.

For team-wide meetings or important client and customer interactions, companies can equip conference rooms with advanced video conferencing systems, larger screens mounted at eye level, better sound systems, improved lighting, and other small fixes such as light paint colours, conference tables you can drill holes into mount microphones, and light-blocking blinds. It might also make sense to create small sound-proof, fully equipped, and well-lit rooms that employees can reserve for Zooms or Teams on days they’re in the office.

On the home front, remote workers will need better desktop setups including top-quality webcams, microphones, speakers, sound isolation, lighting, and/or headsets. Gone are the days of expecting remote employees to work from their kitchen tables on old laptops. These same desktop tools will be needed for select workstations in the office. 

With most workers away from the office at least a few days a week, businesses should focus on making the less-frequent office experience more meaningful, while bringing the office to employees when they aren’t there.

3. Promote and support employee wellbeing

Businesses also need to ensure that employees feel empowered to switch off. This includes implementing clear policies that show staff they aren’t expected to take calls and emails outside working hours.

Offering employees “recharge days” and ensuring they have resources for their health and wellbeing is also important. Simply checking in regularly with staff to find out how they’re coping is a good idea. Managers need to proactively reach out to workers and offer help and support.

Above all, ensuring that all employees are treated equally and fairly is paramount. There’s a danger that workers become “out of sight, out of mind” when they’re working remotely. Achieving work equity in a hybrid workplace is challenging. But employees need to feel fully seen, heard, and valued. This may mean a rethink of traditional processes, deploying collaboration software and tools to increase collaboration across underrepresented groups and give people more autonomy.

Andy Hurt is Managing Director for Poly ANZ. He leads Poly with a vision of bringing together its extensive range of communications devices and services, offered across any platform of choice, as the leading choice for every kind of workspace.   Andy brings over 30 years of experience across both ANZ and APAC, with a proven track record of driving success for a company’s overall growth and success in the region.

Find helpful guides on HR from Small Business answers here.

In a bid to give small businesses across Australia a much needed Christmas boost, Commonwealth Bank is offering a zero interest business loan and just one simple fee² paid over the life of the loan.

The Business Boost Loan* can provide small businesses with fast access to cash as well as peace of mind, with certainty around repayments and an upfront three month repayment holiday to provide extra support in the lead up to Christmas.   

The two-year unsecured loan is available to eligible existing CBA customers via the bank’s self-service and innovative digital lending platform, BizExpress Online. Customers can complete the application online, receive a real-time credit decision and fast access to funds. A one-off simple fee² is added to the total loan amount and repaid over the life of the loan.

Related articles

• Helping SMEs restart and recover
• Businesses backed for recovery
• Backing businesses for the future

CBA Group Executive Business Banking, Mike Vacy-Lyle, said eligible business customers may be able to borrow up to $100,000 through the new loan offering.

“Business want simplicity and certainty during what has been a very challenging period. We’ve worked to deliver a unique offering that will provide just that, with no hidden costs, no variable rates, and in fact, no interest rate at all,” Mr Vacy Lyle said.

“We’re giving businesses fast access to cash to help boost their reopening plans. The various restrictions associated with COVID-19 meant many small businesses struggled to generate much revenue over the past few months, and these businesses now need to be able to re-stock and re-hire. Meanwhile, other businesses are looking at expanding or capitalising on pent up customer demand.

“One example of how this meets customer needs, is the gym owner who accessed our zero interest business loan to help them manage a quieter holiday period while preparing for a busier New Year. They told us they had previously been hesitant to take out a loan with a variable interest rate, but felt reassured with the Business Boost loan as they know exactly what they need to pay over the loan period and don’t need to make their first repayment until March 2022 when business will be more consistent.”

As part of the SME Recovery Loan Scheme, the Business Boost Loan is designed to support business customers who have been adversely economically affected by the pandemic and who want to borrow a set amount over a two year loan term.

More than 21,000 Australian businesses have received more than $2.2 billion in funding support made available through the Commonwealth Bank’s Government-backed SME Guarantee Loan Scheme to help them manage the impacts of the pandemic and as the economy reopens to support business resurgence.

Eligible existing customers can now apply for a Business Boost Loan via BizExpress in Netbank or the CommBank app. For more information visit cba.com.au/businessboost

Shopify Inc. (NYSE, TSX: SHOP), a provider of essential internet infrastructure for commerce, announced a record-setting Black Friday with sales of nearly $2.9* billion from the start of Black Friday in New Zealand through the end of Black Friday in California. This represented a 21% increase over Black Friday in 2020 when sales by Shopify merchants surged 75% over 2019 driven by COVID-19 lockdowns and is more than double their sales on Black Friday 2019. Collectively, merchants on Shopify generated peak sales of nearly $3.1 million per minute at 12:02 PM EST on Black Friday, and merchants crossed $1 billion in sales by 4:00 AM EST, four hours earlier than Black Friday in 2020.

“Every year, Black Friday represents one of the largest single-day sales moments for entrepreneurs around the world, and this year it was bigger than ever,” said Harley Finkelstein, President of Shopify. “From in-store retailers to online and even viral TikTok must-haves, these Black Friday sales show that independent businesses are having a massive impact on global commerce. Consumer support of independent brands is at an all-time high.”

2021 Black Friday Australia Highlights**

• Peak sales per minute: Black Friday at 10:00AM AEDT.
• Top selling cities where shoppers made purchases from (in order of highest sales): Melbourne, Sydney, Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide
• Mobile sales: 66% of sales were made on mobile devices versus 34% on desktop, a slight increase from 65% of sales made on mobile and 35% on desktop in 2020.
• Top product categories: Apparel and accessories followed by home & garden and health & beauty and 
• Average cart price: $163.28 AUD, which is up from last year’s Black Friday average of $128.93 AUD.
• 14%: Cross-border orders worldwide on Black Friday as a percentage of total orders, with the most popular cross-border routes being Australia-United States, Australia-New Zealand and Australia-United Kingdom.
• 34%: Growth in POS sales made my Shopify merchants in Australia have grown by 34% from Black Friday in 2020
• 23,000+ globally: Tonnes of carbon removal funded to counteract emissions from the delivery of every order placed on Shopify’s platform on Black Friday. Learn more about how Shopify is eliminating the climate impact of merchant shipments here.

Visit datastories.shopify.com to view Shopify’s annual Black Friday / Cyber Monday Live Globe, which captures global commerce in real-time and demonstrates the impact of Shopify merchants globally.