After more than 12 months development, SurfStitch, Australia’s number one and arguably largest online surf store today launched a brand new website with new features, functionality, added choice and style. The news follows SurfStitch’s nearest rival brick and mortar cum online retailer City Beach winning the ‘Best Use of Technology’ award at the recent Online Retail Industry Awards (ORIAs) held in July. Despite City Beach’s site being barely eight months old at the time, City Beach hit the winner’s podium alongside mainstream online players like The ABC Shop, Big Brown Box and Eway. Not to be outdone, the new SurfStitch site boasts exclusive product launches, exclusive US and European fashion lines, enhanced imagery for a greater touch and feel experience, a wish list and gift list as well as product reviews. There’s no doubt that in the last two years competition in the online retail space has hotted up. The two frontrunners appear to be Surfstitch and City Beach and as if validation of the surf industry’s place in online retail was required at the inaugural Online Retailer Expo and Conference, Nicholas Nathanson, Senior VP of Direct for Quiksilver, was a guest speaker while Patrick Terrell, Marketing Director for SurfStitch.com, was also invited to address the event alongside speakers from online juggernauts like Best Buy, Google, PayPal and Yahoo! For the full story catch our next issue feature story ‘Chasing E-Tails’