A new wave of Mandurah businesses are spurning physical shops, with their massive overheads and demanding opening hours, and opting to reach customers through internet stores.
In July, Australia Post revealed figures showing Mandurah led the state in online shopping and was the fifth ranking city nationally for buying from the internet.
Online sales in fashion and beauty products have been particularly popular, with Pinjarra alone posting more than 68 per cent growth in online health and beauty purchases in the last year.
Innovative Mandurah businesses are taking advantage of the local online boom.
Owner of Mandurah online shoe store shoefun.com.au, Sandi Holburn, said she started her business on the internet to avoid the overheads involved in a bricks-and-mortar address and to provide Mandurah shoppers with greater diversity.
“I used to go trolling shops and the internet looking for stuff, but because I couldn't find what I was looking for, I went out and started sourcing it myself,” she said.
“It was the sort of thing that made my heart beat quicker so I wanted to do the same for other women.”
She said retailing in Mandurah was difficult because stores were affected by seasonal spending and sales were traditionally slow in winter.
But shoppers also suffered from a small range of products on offer, she said.
“People like crazy and a bit of wow and even in some of the chain stores they restrict the lines they bring into Mandurah to just the basic stuff,” she said.
“They don't bring the really out-there stuff and I think that's frustrating for people in Mandurah.”
Ms Holburn said online stores like hers could breach the gap by bringing the world closer to Mandurah.
“The world is a small place online, especially if someone is looking for something specific,” she said.