Australians smash online shopping records, says Australia Post

A record 9.3 million Aussie households have made online purchases in the past financial year, setting all time high online shopping records, according to a report from Australia Post.

The parcel service said that online spending grew almost 12 per cent in the months from July to December 2021, with an average of 5.6 million households purchasing something each month.

This was 1.5 million more than the average in FY20.

AusPost reported that popular buys were pet products (up 38 per cent YOY), tools and garden items (29 per cent) and products from major and discount stores (32 per cent).

Recent End of Financial Year (EOFY) sales were also a boon for sellers of athleisure, sporting and outdoor goods, which were all up on the previous month.    

New South Wales, which experienced extended lockdowns last year, grew more than 27 per cent year on year (YOY) and had the highest participation compared with its share of population, with around one in three purchases destined for the state.

Australia Post Head of eCommerce Analytics Rose Yip said the growth in online shopping had accelerated beyond expectations throughout the pandemic.

“We’ve seen more than 900 million parcels delivered in the last 3 years alone, which says so much about how quickly eCommerce has grown in a short amount of time,” Yip said.

“It’s now the norm for so many Australians, with more than 5 million households regularly shopping online every month, which is why we’ve not only increased our network capacity but we’re investing in more new facilities, technology and our fleet to set up a strong and sustainable network for the future,” she said.

Since its launch in 2016, more than a billion parcels have been delivered via Australia Post’s online parcel management platform.

The ACT (more than 27 per cent YOY) and Western Australia (14 per cent YOY) also saw significant growth in online purchases year on year.

Source: Australia Post newsroom