Online sales accelerated over the year, rebound in the month

• NAB Online Retail Sales Index (NORSI) rebounded in October(+1.5% mom s.a.) from a contraction in September (-0.5%). Year-on-year growth was also stronger in October, with sales up 8.3% compared to last year. While trend online retail sales (+0.5%) dipped slightly, it is still much stronger than the early months of 2017.
• ABS data on traditional retailers showed month on month seasonally adjusted sales flat in (0.0%) in September. The equivalent NORSI for September was -0.5%, so traditional sales outpaced the NORSI in that month.
• We estimate that Australian consumers have spent around $23.65 billion over the 12 months to October 2017. This is equivalent to 7.6% of spending at traditional bricks & mortar retailers, as measured by the ABS in the 12 months to September 2017.
• Most categories accelerated in October (yoy), with Media (22.9% yoy October vs 19.5% yoy September ), and Daily Deals (18.6% vs 9.9%), both recording double digit growth. Grocery and Liquor (8.8% vs 6.5%), Personal and Recreational (8.2% vs 2.3%), and Homeware and Appliances (3.1 % vs -5.4%) also accelerated in year on year terms in October. While still growing, Food Catering (8% vs 10.4%), slowed along with Department stores (7.8% vs 10.2%), and more dramatically for Games & Toys (2.3% vs 23.1%). Fashion was the only category where sales contracted year on year in October(-0.3% vs 2.2%).
• SME sales represents just over a third of all online sales. Seasonally adjusted SME sales saw strong acceleration in  growth in the month (4.1%,mom s.a.).

For further details, please see the attached document:

• NAB Online Retail Sales Index: October 2017 (PDF, 899kb)