Australians Break New Shopping Record Despite Economic Strain

A post box is seen outside an Australia Post branch in the regional town of Walpole in Western Australia on Dec. 8, 2023. Susan Mortimer/The Epoch Times

Australians appear to have enjoyed a strong Christmas season despite the ongoing economic challenges and cost-of-living pressures, with Australia Post revealing a new record of almost 103 million parcels delivered in the last two months of 2024.

According to the latest quarterly Inside Australian Online Shopping Report on Jan. 23, this represents a 3.1 percent increase from the previous year.

Health and wellness products led the way, growing 20.5 percent in online purchases compared to the previous year.

Athleisure and tools and garden items also saw impressive growth, increasing by 15.8 percent and 14.6 percent, respectively.

During November and December, 2,800 parcels were delivered to Australian households every minute.

Around 7.6 million households made at least one online purchase, marking a 2.4 percent increase from the same period last year.

Strong Growth in Regional Areas

While shoppers across all states and territories participated in online sales events, the Northern Territory was up by 12.4 percent, Tasmania by 11.4 percent, and South Australia by 8.9 percent experiencing the strongest year-on-year growth.

Nationally, Queensland’s Mackay and Toowoomba, along with Victoria’s Point Cook, were the top suburbs for online shopping.

Gary Starr, Executive General Manager of Parcel, Post, and eCommerce services at Australia Post, said the company delivered over 3 million parcels on its busiest day, Dec. 9, and maintained over 2 million daily deliveries for more than 30 days.

“Retailers have a tremendous opportunity to learn from and capitalise on the growing appetite for online shopping, especially during key sales events,” Starr noted.

He highlighted that the record-breaking cyber weekend (Nov. 29– Dec. 2, 2024) saw a 7.8 percent increase in online purchases compared to the previous year.

Online Shopping Becomes Regular Habit for Australians

A survey by insurer Budget Direct found that around 38 percent of respondents make monthly online purchases, 30 percent shop fortnightly, and 21 percent do so weekly.

The survey polled almost 1,000 Australians.

Women were slightly more likely to shop online frequently, with 23 percent shopping weekly and 31 percent fortnightly, compared to men, with 19 percent shopping weekly and 29 percent fortnightly.

Men, however, were more likely to make monthly or rare online purchases.

Meanwhile, the 2024 Global Digital Insights report found that 52.8 percent of internet users made online purchases, with 23.1 percent buying groceries online.

Australia’s e-commerce spending reached a record $56.07 billion in 2024, with fashion leading at $11.64 billion.

Catch.com.au Shuts Down

The surge in online shopping has intensified competition in the Australian e-commerce sector, contributing to the closure of Catch.com.au.

The company struggled to maintain growth amid rising competition from new entrants like Shein and Temu, which entered the market in 2022 and 2023, alongside giants like Amazon.

Wesfarmers Managing Director Rob Scott said Catch’s financial performance has struggled due to rising competition in Australia’s e-commerce sector.