The NAB Online Retail Sales Index provides key insights into online spending in the retail goods space, capturing domestic and international trends, as well as regional and age demographic trends. It’s a unique tool based on up to 2 million non-cash transactions per day, scaled up to replicate the broader economy.

Online sales growth recorded a recovery in June – lifting back up to +19% year-on-year

• Australia’s total online spending was around $11.5 billion in the year ended June 2012. This level  is  equivalent  to  5.3%  of  traditional  bricks  &  mortar  retail  spending  (excluding  cafés, restaurants and takeaway food) for the year ended May 2012.
• In June 2012, the NAB Online Retail Sales Index rose to 189 points – up marginally from 187 points in May 2012.
• In dollar terms, online spending grew by around +19% year-on-year in June 2012. This represents a significant strengthening compared with the previous two months (+14% and +15% in May and April respectively). Despite this recovery, the growth rate for online retail sales remains considerably lower than the levels from a year earlier (+32% yoy in June 2011).
• Online sales growth remains considerably stronger than traditional retail bricks & mortar retail – which saw a rebound in growth in May, up from 0.2% to 4.2% year-on-year (on a nonseasonally adjusted basis). After seasonal adjustment, the growth rate was more modest, at 2.8% year-on-year (compared with 1.7% in April).
• Quantium’s analysis suggests that the traditional mid-year period of toy sales at Australian discount department stores appears to have spread to the online sector, with a notable pick up in stores for these items during June.

For further analysis download the full report.

• NAB Online Retail Sales Index: Monthly update – June 2012 (PDF 43KB)