Australians have spent nearly $56 billion in online shopping over the last 12 months to May, according to NAB’s online retail sales index.
Online sales make up 14.7 per cent of the total retail trade in the country, a figure that has risen 16.6 per cent higher than the 12 months to May 2021.
These figures have accelerated throughout the pandemic, as usual brick-and-mortar customers were forced to make purchases online. These habits have then carried over past lockdown.
Department stores and fashion are both fast growing categories, while groceries and liquor are contracting. The largest sales category is homewares and appliances.
Despite this, NAB Chief Economist, Alan Oster warns that spending growth is beginning to soften.
“It is likely that inflationary pressures and concerns over the future direction of borrowing costs are beginning to weigh on the consumer,” Oster said.
“For online retail, what we observed in the past twelve months is the strong contribution to the index made by department stores, grocery and liquor, and takeaway food. These three categories make up about 40 per cent of the index, but have contributed about 60 per cent of the growth over the past year.
“In contrast, largest sales share category, homewares and appliances, has contributed much less to growth than its proportion of the index, while other categories like fashion have been on par.”
