Aussies facing the cost-of-living crunch are set to capitalise on the upcoming sales events that kick off the nation’s biggest online retail season1.
Australia Post today released its latest quarterly Australian Online Shopping Report, with FY24 first quarter results showing:
- Online shoppers continue to take advantage of key sales events, with sales as a result of AfterPay Day rising 2.4 per cent compared to last year.
- Online purchases increased 0.5 per cent year-on-year (YoY).
- 7 million Aussie households made an online purchase on average every month.
- More Australians are shopping online for a better deal. Every State and Territory registered double-digit growth in Online Marketplaces YoY.
Despite online purchases softening and following historic COVID-related highs showing only 0.5% YoY growthand an increase of 1.1 per cent compared to the prior quarter.
The modest uplift since last quarter can be attributed to consumers shopping around for better deals from Online Marketplaces (up 30 per cent YoY), and sales events such as AfterPay Day, held in August, which itself saw 4.1 million households making an online purchase.
While Tasmania received the most parcel deliveries per household in Q1, online shopping in Western Australia, Northern Territory and Queensland all recorded a YoY increase of 5.7 per cent, 5.6 per cent, and 4.5 per cent respectively.
Looking ahead, the Report predicts Black Friday sales will be particularly popular this year for those buying Athleisure (an expected 139 per cent increase compared to non-peak periods), Beauty (a 124 per cent increase), Footwear (up 121 per cent), Sporting & Outdoor (a 114 per cent uplift), and Discount Stores (up 104 per cent).2
Australia Post Executive General Manager Parcel Post and eCommerce Services Gary Starr said the online shopping boom leading up to Christmas will be especially evident during the November cyber sales events.
“With increasing cost-of-living pressures, Aussies are being more savvy with their money, which is why we’ve seen shopping purchases stay steady for most of this quarter with upticks driven by key sales days a,” Mr. Starr said.
“However, the cyber sales frenzy followed by the Christmas shopping season will likely tell a different story with strategic shoppers coming out in droves, hunting for bargains and looking to stretch their dollar further, possibly across several stores.”
Ahead of the year’s busiest shopping season, Australia Post is reminding shoppers they can prepare for delivery success by downloading the AusPost app. Offering greater control and visibility of Australia Post deliveries matched to a MyPost Account, the AusPost app is the best place to get trusted, accurate and legitimate notifications that protect customer security.
To learn more about these trends and access data and insights about shoppers, visit Australia Post Quarterly Online Shopping Report: https://auspost.com.au/einsight.
ENDS
[1] Australia Post ‘Inside Australian Online Shopping Quarterly Update’ (July-September 2023 Q1).
[2] Non-peak period is all weeks in 2022 excluding major sales events and public holidays.
Media contact:
Erin Price, Public Relations Manager
0487 253 908
