Online sales growth lifts again in June with expansion across most categories.

• Online retail showed further encouraging signs of growth in June, to be 0.9% higher compared to May, and 9.5% higher compared to a year ago.

• On the other hand, ABS data showed negative comparable sales growth at traditional retailers in May, to be 0.3% lower than April, and only 3.9% higher than a year ago.

• While growth in online sales continues to outpace traditional retail, its growth rate has been slowing gradually. Since we started reporting the index in 2010, the average growth rate has been 1.6% monthly and 21% annually, significantly higher than recent numbers.

• In dollar terms, we estimate Australians spent $15.5 billion on online retail in the 12 months to June 2014. This level is equivalent to 6.6% of spending at traditional bricks & mortar retailers as measured by the ABS (excluding cafés, restaurants and takeaway food, to create a like-for-like comparison) in the 12 months to May 2014.

• Online sales growth expanded (year on year) in almost all categories in June. Only Personal & Recreational Goods has a small decline in sales, but this was still an improvement from last month’s -7% growth. Growth also improved in Electronic Games (22%), Groceries & Liquor (19%), Department & Variety Stores (10%), Fashion (8%) and Homeware & Appliances (8%). Daily Deals saw its first positive growth in 2014, to be 3% higher than a year ago. While sales continue to grow in Media, it is expanding at a much slower rate (3%).

For further analysis download the full report.

• Online Retail Sales Index monthly update – June 2014 (PDF, 87KB)