Sunshine Coast – SMB seachangers making the most of online retail

According to the data, total payment volume of online businesses from the top 10 regional SMB hotspots (list below) has grown by a massive 47 per cent in the period from March 2012 to March 2013, while traditional retail fell by 0.4 per cent in March 2013 . Overall, total payment volume for PayPal regional SMBs grew 27 per cent.

Sunshine Coast in Queensland and Country Victoria have dominated PayPal’s top 10 for SMB growth, as they become increasingly savvy, leveraging online retail to reach new audiences in a highly competitive retail market.

Emma Hunt, Head of Small Business at PayPal Australia said: “Regional centres have become hotbeds for innovative small businesses using the online world to reach consumers both in Australia and around the world. These areas have become a destination for seachangers, keen to get out of the city and make a flexible living as a niche small business.”

In the last year, PayPal Australia has grown its merchant base by over a third, with now over 80,000 businesses enabling PayPal payments, largely driven by SMB growth. The number of regional PayPal SMB merchants has increased by 20 per cent in the period from March 2012 to March 2013.

Small to medium-sized businesses in these hotspots are growing at a faster rate than those in the top 10 non-regional areas, according to PayPal data. The table below ranks Australia’s regional areas according to total payment volume for SMBs. Queensland’s coastal areas dominate with the Gold Coast and Hinterland having the highest total payment volume in 2013 out of any other regional area in Australia.