Amid Online Spending Resurgence, Airwallex Unveils Inaugural Airwallex eCommerce Champion Award Winners

• Australia-based eCommerce Leaders awarded honours across four categories – Community Hero, Tech Innovator, Emerging Star and eCommerce Champion 2024 – at Airwallex’s Beyond Black Friday Event

• Encouraging eCommerce indicators include: Airwallex’s monthly eCommerce business turnover growth of 9 percent YoY as customers increasingly look for frictionless shopping experiences

MELBOURNE, AUSTRALIA - Airwallex, the Australia-founded leading financial platform for modern businesses, has revealed the winners of its inaugural eCommerce Champion Awards, announced at an exclusive Beyond Black Friday event.

The event, hosted in Sydney on 12 September by Huw Griffiths, Airwallex’s Head of Enterprise (ANZ), brought together 200 of the country’s leading eCommerce professionals to celebrate the industry’s best and discuss game-changing strategies to ditch short-term sales tactics, supercharge their business’ bottom line and compete on the global stage.

For the eCommerce Champion Awards, Airwallex received more than 400 nominations across the four categories. The judging panel included industry experts Anaita Sarkar (Hero Packaging and Sell Anything Online), Mark Mansour (Woolworths Group), Shannon Ingrey (BigCommerce) and Kate Massey (Searchspring), along with Huw Griffiths, who said the calibre of entries was testament to the talent and bright minds within the thriving eCommerce community.

The winners of the inaugural Airwallex eCommerce Champion Awards are:

• Community Hero: Rad Mitic (Yotpo)

• Tech Innovator: Olly Hoffman (Fingertip)

• Emerging Star: Ashlee McGonical (Sandy Rose Designs)

• Champion 2024: Mal Chia (eCom Nation)

The winners will receive $25,000 worth of grants for business or personal development as part of Airwallex’s Business Acceleration Grant initiative.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, retail spend (which includes stores and online) is up 2.3% YoY (July 2024 compared to July 2023). In addition, inflation is showing signs of easing, decreasing to 3.5% for the year to July (compared to 3.8% for June YoY).

Airwallex is also seeing signs of a return in consumer confidence, with analysis of monthly turnover for 2,000 Australian eCommerce businesses showing growth of 9% YoY (August 2024 compared to August 2023).

Huw Griffiths said that the global eCommerce landscape is brimming with opportunities, but demands modern solutions to tackle economic challenges and thrive in a complex market.

"For businesses eyeing global expansion, innovative financial platforms are essential for providing frictionless shopping experiences, managing multi-currency operations and navigating foreign transaction fees," said Huw.

You can read more about the winners of the eCommerce Champion Awards here.

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About Airwallex

Airwallex is a leading global financial platform for modern businesses, offering trusted solutions to manage everything from payments, treasury, and spend management to embedded finance. With our proprietary infrastructure, Airwallex takes the friction out of global payments and financial operations, empowering businesses of all sizes to unlock new opportunities and grow beyond borders. Proudly founded in Melbourne, Airwallex supports over 100,000 businesses globally and is trusted by brands such as Brex, Rippling, Navan, Qantas, SHEIN and many more. For more information, visit http://www.airwallex.com