Shares in online electronics retailer Kogan have slumped more than 12 per cent on their market debut.

In afternoon trade, shares in the company were down 11.4 per cent, or 20.5 cents, at $1.59, having hit a low of $1.495 earlier in the afternoon.

The shares are trading well below their offer price of $1.80 to institutional investors.

"Obviously a disappointing debut, the IPO [initial public offering] in terms of itself was quite high relative to traditional bricks and mortar retailers," said Daniel Mueller, senior equities analyst at Forager Funds, which did not participate in the float.

Our investment philosophy tends to favour stocks that are quite cheap, Kogan doesn't really fit that mould, we considered it to be more on the expensive side with a lot of expectations priced in.

The market debut comes after its listing, meant to be a week ago, was delayed due to the Australian Securities and Investments Commission wanting a longer exposure for Kogan's prospectus.

Kogan, founded in 2006, flagged an IPO to raise $50 million in early June.

The company has since grown from an initial product range of two LCD televisions to 52 million site visits a year.

It plans to use funds raised for growth capital, including investing in new products and categories.

Investors are no doubt wary following the unsuccessful floats of some other Australian retail companies, such as electronics retailer Dick Smith and department store Myer.

Myer's shares are currently trading around a quarter of their listing price, and Dick Smith shops closed earlier this year after the company collapsed.

"I think with some of the retailers they have had some of the structural headwinds - the impact on retail in the last ten years - that fragmentation of bricks and mortar to online and also just that proliferation of competition - they're very competitive spaces," Mr Mueller said.

"Kogan with an online only model has a very strong brand awareness and competitive position but, in saying that, online there's very few barriers to entry and there's not a lot to stop other retailers from opening up their own online stores."