• The index slowed on a month-on-month, seasonally adjusted basis in March (0.4%), with February revised slightly higher (1.4%, was 1.3%). 
• While growth continues to accelerate in year-on-year terms (13.7% y/y), the March quarter was slower relative to the December quarter, given the rapid growth in November.
• March month-on-month growth by category was mixed, with some categories like fashion accelerating while others slowed (department stores) or contracted (grocery and liquor, takeaway food).  Mid-size sales category, fashion, again led monthly growth. Fashion also accelerated in year-on-year terms, along with homewares and appliances, personal and rec goods and media.
• Growth was recorded for most states this month except QLD and SA. The two largest sales states, NSW and VIC slowed in the month, along with TAS, while WA returned to growth after a fall last month. NT recorded rapid growth, driven by a rebound in homewares and appliances. Grocery & liquor was again a key difference between QLD and the other large sales states.
• In year-on-year terms, metro growth accelerated while regional growth slowed. The slowing in regional growth was most evident in QLD, while NSW and WA boosted the metro result.
• While growth slowed for both international and domestic retailers, the former recorded stronger monthly growth. International retailers also outpaced domestic in year-on-year terms.
• NAB estimates that in the 12 months to March, Australians spent $61.87billion on online retail, a level that is around 14.1% of the total retail trade estimate (February 2025, Series 8501, Australian Bureau of Statistics), with 12 months to growth (10.9%) continuing to improve.

NAB Chief Economist, Sally Auld commented:

In month on month, seasonally adjusted terms, online retail sales growth slowed in March. However, this was slightly faster than our NAB Monthly Data Insights measure for broader retail (0.2% m/m). In growth terms, online has outperformed our broader measure in eight of the past twelve months. In recent months this has been particularly true for some categories like fashion, with growth far more rapid for the online segment (3.2% m/m vs 0.5% for broader retail fashion). This is partly due to the larger relative contribution by international retailers to the fashion category. Food related retailing was more mixed with online grocery contracting compared to broader retail growth for the comparable category, whereas online takeaway food and broader café and restaurant sales both fell in March.

Get all the insights in the NAB Online Retail Sales Index (March 2025)