Lockdown Sparks Further Online Spend

Online sales for the last fortnight are now up six percent compared to last year, with NSW making up a whopping one-third of total online purchases (35.1 percent), with Queensland accounting for almost one fifth.

Almost four million households have bought something online in the last fortnight, up six percent compared to last year.

“We know that when restrictions tighten, people buy more online. In fact, during lockdowns online purchase growth almost doubles when compared to non-lockdown periods according to our data,” says Ben Franzi,  General Manager of Parcel and Express Services at AusPost.

“With this latest wave of the pandemic affecting different areas of the country, we’ve seen different growth patterns as many Australians experienced tight public health restrictions for the first time.”

Over the last 12 months, e-commerce sales are ‘almost on par’ with the same period last year (31.8 percent v 33.2 percent).

The latest Power Retail Trajectory Report has shown that despite online sales dropping in May, traffic in June is 12 percent above the same period in 2020, with e-commerce revenue increasing by 14 percent YoY.

Even with lockdown and ongoing restrictions, Australian consumers aren’t showing any signs of slowing their shopping online. In fact, a whopping 80 percent of consumers say they expect their online habits to stay the same or increase in the next month. Of this, 27 percent expect to increase their online spend next month.

As reported by Power Retail and Australia Post, the fashion category remains strong, representing 31 percent of last purchases. There has also been significant growth in the Home & Garden and Food & Drink categories.

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