• NAB Online Retail Sales Index (NORSI) slowed in February  (+0.8% mom s.a.) from stronger growth in January (1.6%). 12 months to growth was also stronger in February, with sales up 15.1% compared to last year. While slowing, trend online retail sales is still much stronger than the early months of 2017.
• ABS data on traditional retailers showed month on month seasonally adjusted sales were almost flat (0.1%) in January, substantially outpaced by NORSI in that month.
• We estimate that Australian consumers have spent around $25 billion over the 12 months to February 2018. This is equivalent to 8% of spending at traditional bricks & mortar retailers, as measured by the ABS in the 12 months to January 2018.
• Growth was mixed across categories in February. Toys and Games (33.3% February vs 20.9% 12 months to January), and the much larger sales category, Media (21.1% vs 20.6%) lead growth. While third fastest in 12 months to terms, Department stores slowed slightly (20.1% vs 21.2%). In 12 month to terms, this category has seen continued double digit growth since May 2017. Daily Deals also recorded double digit growth (19.6% vs 10.1%) along with larger sales categories of Grocery and Liquor (16.0% vs 16.2%), Food Catering (12.3% vs 14.7%), Fashion (10.7% vs 11.2%) and Homeware and Appliances (10.7% vs 10.4%). More mild, albeit still strong growth was recorded for Personal and Recreational (8.4% vs 7.7%).
• SME sales represent just over a third of all online sales. Seasonally adjusted SME sales (1.1%,mom s.a.) slowed in February but still outpaced large online retailers.

For further details, please see the attached document.

• NAB Online Retail Sales Index: February 2018 (PDF, 930kb)