This article is from the Australian Property Journal archive
CONSUMER buying confidence remains low as cost of living pressures continue to weigh on Australian shoppers, resulting in more cautious and selective spending.
According to Australia Post’s new quarterly Inside Australian Online Shopping Report, average shopping cart sizes shrunk 6% to $105, compared to the same time last year.
At the same time, seasonal sale events are pushing up online sales, with end of financial year sales seeing a 4.3% increase on the previous year.
May saw improved online sales after a slow start to the year, with 5.7 million households making an online purchase over the month, reflecting a 5.7% increase on last year.
Household participation in online shopping is still growing with 9.4 million households, or 82% of the population, making an online purchase during the 2023 financial year.
The last quarter of the financial year saw 5.5 million households make an online purchase each month on average, up 3.9% on the same period last year.
Though shoppers are spending less in total, with online spend down 3.1% compared to last year.
“Aussies are now more cautious and selective with where and when they spend their money, which is why online shopping carts are averaging smaller than last year,” said Gary Starr, executive general manager of parcel, post and ecommerce services at Australia Post.
“Our love affair with online shopping hasn’t waned, however cost-of-living pressures are creating short-term headwinds.”
“This is an opportunity for retailers to entice customers via sales events, subscriptions or other forms of rewards that create loyalty and repeat purchases.”
1 in 4 consumers have turned to online retail subscriptions as part of their cost saving practices, with 85% of those aged 18– 34 planning to shop during dedicated sales events.
Online shopping continued to grow disproportionally in the regions compared to metro areas, with regional Australia seeing 4.2% growth year-on-year and just 0.7% growth seen in metro areas.
The Northern Territory led growth over the last quarter, with an increase of 9.3% YoY in online sales compared to last year.
Western Australia followed with 6.9% growth, Queensland was up 4.8%, Tasmania 4.2%, South Australia 2.0% and Victoria up 0.5%.
Meanwhile, both the ACT and NSW saw a drop in purchasing over the year, down 1.6% and 1.0% respectively.