Online retail sales growth rebounded in May, after a small decline in April. Online spending totalled $15.3 billion in the past year. Groceries & Liquor and Electronic Games & Toys continued to strengthen while Daily Deals and Personal & Recreational Goods experienced negative growth during the month.

In the 12 months to May 2014, Australians spent $15.3 billion on online retail. This level is equivalent to 6.6% of spending at traditional bricks & mortar retailers as measured by the ABS (excluding cafés, restaurants and takeaway food, to create a like-for-like comparison) in the 12 months to April 2014.

• The NAB Online Retail Sales Index grew by 0.2% in May, after a small decline in April. Compared to a year ago, the online index is 5.1% higher. (see table below)
• Comparable sales growth at traditional retailers also slowed in April, to be at 0.1%, compared to 0.4% in March.
• The key drivers of the index have behaved quite differently this month. Groceries & Liquor and Electronic Games & Toys continued their strength from the previous month. On the other hand, Fashion, Department & Variety Stores and Homeware & Appliances have seen a weakened growth.
• Growth in Media has continued to drop, and has now fallen to its lowest level in history. Daily Deals and Personal & Recreational Goods experienced negative growth again this month.

For further analysis download the full report.

• Online Retail Sales Index monthly update – May 2014 (PDF, 60KB)