Australia Post recently released its 9th edition of the Inside Australian Online Shopping Report, an in-depth study into consumer buying behaviours and trends.
2023 saw retailers and consumers responding swiftly to interest rate rises, inflation and rising cost-of-living. While spending slowed, more Australian households shopped online than ever before, with 9.5 million households making an online purchase in 2023.
Despite this, Australians spent $361 billion on retail goods in 2023 (2% more than in 2022) and $63 billion online during 2023.
Consumers persistently pursued discounts, focusing on major sales events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday, which experienced significant growth in sales volumes (up 88% and 70% respectively) since 2019.
Retailers were quick to capitalise, extending sales periods and increasing promotions to capture a larger cohort of shoppers holding out for sales events. All of this contributed to Australia Post achieving its biggest eCommerce Peak period yet, delivering nearly 100 million parcels in November and December.
To tackle rising supply chain costs, 43% of Australian retailers raised their free shipping thresholds in 2023
with some implementing return fees, however with nearly 76% of savvy online shoppers reading site return policies before placing an orders, this hasn’t affected rates greatly.
Final sale items gained traction too, with 82% of shoppers unaffected by a ‘no returns’ policy, meanwhile only 28% of businesses use ‘final sales’ in their strategy, an opportunity for both retailers and consumers.
Retailers continued to take steps to minimise their environmental impact—and customers are noticing with 62% of shoppers willing to pay extra for products that align with their values, and 78% of Australians agree loyalty programs enhance their experience.
These statistics demonstrate that it is clear that online shopping continues to be an essential part of the Australian retail landscape.