Online Retail Sales Index: Indepth & Special report – July 2013

Australian online retail sales rose to $14.1 billion in the year to July 2013, a level that is equivalent to 6.3% of traditional retail spending. Department & Variety Stores, Groceries & Liquor and Media drove the growth over this period.

By Brien McDonald

Australian online retail sales rose to $14.1 billion in the year to July 2013, a level that is equivalent to 6.3% of traditional retail spending.

In this release, we’ve introduced seasonal adjustment to our index for the first time. Retail data is highly seasonal – with sales peaking around the Christmas period. Seasonal adjustment allows us to make better month to month comparisons – for example, it highlights a slowdown in online sales growth between January and April this year, and acceleration in growth in recent months. The three month moving average growth rate was +3% in July (up from +1% in June).

We’ve also observed a trend of convergence over the last few months, with the growth rates for international and domestic sales, metropolitan and regional areas and major states all moving closely together. In particular, growth in Western Australia has slowed – moving from one of the strongest growing states to one of the weakest in July.

Our ‘Special Report’ also released today reveals traditional retailers have made some inroads in the online space but sales are dominated by Pureplay retailers (online only retailers), who account for 70% of total sales. This share has been relatively stable across 2013.

We hope you enjoy our latest insights into this rapidly evolving sector.

For further analysis download the full report.