Online Retail Sales Index: In depth & special report – April 2014

Australia’s online retail spending has continued to grow, sitting at $15.25 billion, while over 65s have experienced the strongest growth post-Christmas – meaning retailers need a clear strategy to reach this growing online consumer base.

By Brien McDonald

Australia’s online retail spending increased to $15.25 billion for the year to April 2014, or by 6.4%. It now represents around 6.6% of traditional retail spending.

Domestic retailers continue to control the largest share of online sales – at around 74% (Chart 1).

Despite a recent pick-up in the traditional bricks & mortar retail sector, it was still outpaced by the improvement in online retail growth over the past three months. That said, recent online growth has been more subdued than the 20-30% growth rates recorded in earlier years. The stronger growth evidenced earlier in the year in domestic online retailing has now slowed, though growth is still higher than international online (Chart 2).

By category, the results are mixed. Over the past three months strong sectors included fashion, media, department and variety stores, and electronic games and toys. In contrast, trends over the past three months have been weaker in home wares and appliances, daily deals, personal and recreational goods, and grocery and liquor.

We hope you enjoy our latest insights into this rapidly evolving sector.

For further analysis, check out NAB Online Retail Sales Index Indepth report – April 2014 (PDF, 1.2MB).

NAB Online Retail Sales Index: In depth report – June 2014

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