Geography still matters on the Net

Since returning to Australia I’ve realised just how many US-based companies think about the “world market” as an afterthought. So it seems either ignorance or red-tape is holding up what amounts to lost market opportunity.

For example, I am one of the fortunate few in Australia who can buy a song from iTunes because I have maintained a US bank account and while online can pretend I’m still living there (shhhh). But Apple in its infinite wisdom will otherwise not let Australians buy songs via iTunes. No doubt there are record company issues at work here too.

Then last week, I read about Movielink over at Chris Shipley’s blog. This company has offered paid movie downloads since 2002, and yet it still doesn’t cater for non-US customers.

Oh, and the same applies to Netflix which is yet to extend its DVD rental business to Australia. Surely there is a local partner out there that can fulfill orders here in a similar fashion to Interflora’s business?

In the meantime, at least I can count on Amazon.com and eBay to satisfy some of my online shopping needs.