Australian online retail sales up 23% yoy in September, but the level is still modest compared to traditional sales

• For the year to September 2012, Australia’s online retail sales totalled $12.1 billion. This figure is equivalent to 5.5% of the traditional bricks & mortar retail sales (excluding cafés, restaurants and takeaway food) for the year ended August 2012
• Compared with the previous month, the NAB Online Retail Sales Index edged a little lower in September – down to 200 points (from 210 points in August). There may be a seasonal component to this trend – with month-on-month declines observed in both September 2010 and September 2011.
• Year-on-year growth in online retail sales strengthened in September – up by +23% yoy – a level that was stronger than August (+22%) but was marginally lower than September 2011 (+25%).
• The growth rate for online retail sales continues to outperform that of the traditional bricks & mortar sector. Traditional sales increased in August – up by +4.0% year-on-year (nonseasonally adjusted). It should be noted that in seasonally adjusted terms, there was a slowing in growth (down from +3.8% to +3.3%).

Domestic online retailers continue to innovate – in an effort to develop or maintain a competitive advantage. An increasing number of firms are offering express delivery, in some cases same day delivery – in order to attract customers.

For further analysis download the full report.

• Online Retail Sales Index monthly update – September 2012 ( PDF 55KB)