Key eCommerce and Online Shopping Statistics in Australia in 2024

eCommerce in Australia witnessed robust growth in 2023 and is expected to generate $35.92 billion in revenues in 2024. This upward trajectory is expected to continue over the next half a decade, with Australian eCommerce forecast to grow at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 8.33% over the next four years, reaching a market volume of $49.47 billion by 2028.¹

Over 5.6 million Australian households shopped online every month according to the 2023 Australia Post eCommerce Industry report (PDF download).² With more Australians shopping online than ever before, new and emerging retail businesses in the market have much to look forward to in terms of growth opportunities.

The impact of eCommerce on offline businesses in Australia has been significant, and it is likely to continue to shape the retail landscape in the years to come. With over 9.4 million Australian households purchasing physical goods online, businesses have now increasingly become aware of how and where consumers buy.²

This boom in domestic eCommerce in Australia points to greater opportunities for new and established brands as this growth is set to continue. With this in mind, we look at some key Australia eCommerce statistics, to enable brands and advertisers to leverage emerging eCommerce trends.

eCommerce and Online Shopping Statistics in Australia in 2024

Here's a summary extracted from the voluminous eCommerce statistics Australia generates each calendar year to provide advertisers and affiliates with a bird's-eye view of the lay of the land:

75% of Australian consumers look for more sustainable options when shopping, and 56% will prefer slower delivery options if they are more sustainable.²
53% of online shoppers would prefer getting a more personalised shopping experience from retailers.²
28% of Australians purchased products from international sellers in 2022. Meanwhile, only 6% of international buyers bought goods from Australian sellers online.²
31% of online shoppers intend to purchase Australian-made products from retailers.²
User penetration will be 78.5% in 2024 and is expected to hit 98% by 2028.¹
eCommerce revenues are expected to grow by 8.33% between 2024 and 2028, fuelling the expansion of the market to $49.47 billion by 2028.¹
The fastest growing segments for online holiday shopping in 2023 were women’s fashion (37.3% YoY), online discount stores (12.2% YoY), and athleisure (9.2% YoY).³
30.3% of consumers have purchased products online through social media, demonstrating new online shopping behaviour.⁴
25% of household appliance sales are generated online, according to the latest electronics and appliances stats.⁵

How Fast Is eCommerce Growing in Australia?

Revenue in the eCommerce market is projected to reach $35.92 billion in 2024.¹ Here are a few other statistics that give a bird's eye view of the growth of internet shopping in Australia.

The eCommerce market's largest segment is Fashion, with revenue projected to grow to $8.96 billion in 2024, at a CAGR of 8.8%. ⁶
User penetration is projected to reach 78% of the Australian population in 2024 and expand to 98% by 2028.¹
The average revenue per user (ARPU) is expected to amount to $1,749 this year.¹
Revenue is expected to grow annually at 8.33% CAGR and expand the eCommerce market volumes to $49.47 billion by 2028.¹

Key Trends Shaping Australia’s eCommerce Sector

Now that we’ve looked at the raw numbers, let’s analyse some key trends that are shaping Australia’s eCommerce sector:

1. Growth in New Sectors and New Markets

In 2022-23, more than 82% of Australian households made at least one online purchase, with 60% making more than 12 purchases a year. The online goods spend reached $63.8 billion, or 18% of all retail sales, an annual growth rate of 1.7%.²

A large part of this growth has been driven by new sectors and across new markets. For instance, online food delivery has been an important contributor to the growth of eCommerce in Australia over the last few years.

An analysis of the food consumption pattern in Australia underscores this shift towards online delivery of food items.⁷ In 2022-23 alone, over 2.7 million households spent $8.6 billion on food and beverages online in Australia.²

More Australians are ordering their food online because of the more convenient shopping experience, access to a wider array of products, and most importantly, the availability of steep discounts and value-for-money deals.

As Australian eCommerce continues to grow and evolve, new markets are also emerging for Australian online businesses to expand into. In addition to Australia's domestic sector, East and Southeast Asian markets are also expected to contribute to this growth, given the dense linkages these regions have with the Australian economy.

2. Digital Marketing Spend Remains Consistent

According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau (IAB), Australian businesses spent $14.2 billion on digital marketing in 2023, a YoY growth of 1.8%. By contrast, the growth rate in 2022 was 22%, fueled primarily by the pandemic.⁸

Although growth has clearly declined, all sectors reported positive figures despite the overwhelmingly negative economic situation. The trend is expected to continue into 2024, as the global economy faces below-average growth despite declining inflation levels.⁹ With the continued growth of online shopping, increased attention to digital marketing continues to be the preferred strategy of most online retailers.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are primarily an online affair in Australia, unlike their American counterparts.¹⁰ And in 2023, these events attracted a record number of shoppers, achieving a YoY growth of 4.6%.³ Focusing more on digital marketing during these key marketing dates in 2024 in Australia could help retailers capitalise on consumer interest.¹¹

3. The Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Revolution

Buy now, pay later (BNPL) arrangements enable customers to shop online and repay the amount owed over set instalments (many without interest charges or account-keeping fees).

Digital wallets, a key element in this BNPL ecosystem, are now finding widespread acceptance the world over. Digital wallet users globally are expected to top the 5 billion mark by 2026, a 53% rise from 3.4 billion users in 2022.¹²

This trend is evident among Australian shoppers too. In 2023, more than 35% of all card transactions in Australia were done through mobile wallets, more than triple the amount from 2020. More than two-thirds of young consumers under the age of 30 regularly use mobile payments.¹³

Cashing in on the BNPL trend, companies such as AfterPay, ZipPay, Klarna, Openpay, Humm, Laybuy and others provide a digitised version of what is known colloquially in Australia as "lay-by", through a simple yet intuitive integration with eCommerce platforms.

According to the Reserve Bank of Australia, there are 7 million active BNPL accounts, representing up to 30% of the Australian population.¹⁴ Australians are leading consumers of BNPL services globally with total transactions amounting to $12.5 billion in FY 2022-2023.¹⁸

The retail payments market continues to change with an increase in innovation, competition and technological advances allowing eCommerce stores to entice purchasers and drive sales through flexible payment facilities.

4. Stiff Competition From Physical Stores

Convenience and accessibility have always been two of the main drivers behind the growth of eCommerce transactions in Australia across the demographic divide.

During the pandemic, nearly 86% of Australian shoppers aged between 30 and 39 had made an online purchase of a non-grocery item every month of the year (2021). This number came down to 66% for those aged between 60 and 70.¹⁵

In the post-pandemic phase, there has been a decrease in these numbers. Among millennials, 57% reported shopping online for groceries. The corresponding figure for Australians in the age group of 60 -70 was just 35%.¹⁶

It is clear that despite the convenience and accessibility that eCommerce enables, Australians of all ages still love to go out and spend time in physical stores.

Advertisers will need to formulate and customise new marketing campaigns to see off this challenge from physical retail stores. They will need to consider programs such as loyalty schemes, subscription models and personalised messaging to bring a wider demographic onto online marketplaces from retail shops.

5. Sustainable Shopping

Sustainable and ethical shopping is at the forefront of Australian shoppers' minds with a noticeable trend towards conscious consumerism. Australian consumers are more likely to buy goods that are ethically and sustainably sourced.

People want marketers, retailers, and brands to be more transparent about their products' sources and sustainability and engage in ethical practices. Around 56% of online shoppers are ready to settle for slower delivery options if they can reduce the environmental impact.²

The choice of packaging materials is another key factor for consumers. The majority (58%) want recyclable packaging, with reusable packaging (37%) and biodegradable packaging (34) as the other popular alternatives.²

6. Click and Collect

Express delivery services have become the norm for many Australians who do most of their shopping online. Click and collect has arisen in every industry, including fashion, groceries, and liquor, with more customers wanting their purchases right away.

In a world where people engage in online transactions to avoid large crowds, but want to receive their goods as soon as possible, Click and Collect is an excellent option for the eCommerce industry. It's an alternative to express shipping and can often provide the customer base with options based on personal preference.

7. Social Shopping

In 2023, Australians spent an average of two hours a day on social media.¹⁷ Realising the growing importance of these platforms, advertisers and eCommerce retailers in Australia have placed considerable focus on increasing their digital presence on social media platforms over the last decade.

Nearly 62% of internet users in Australia between 16 and 64 years of age used social media to research new brands and products in 2023. Further, more than 53% of these users have made eCommerce purchases in 2023.¹⁸

Since 2020, social shopping has rapidly increased in popularity with partnerships between Shopify and TikTok, Snapchat expanding their Native Stores for brand offerings, and Facebook launching Shops for Facebook and Instagram

By 2024, a total of 6.4 million internet users in Australia are expected to purchase a product through social media.¹⁹Advertisers leverage these platforms' widespread reach to advertise their best-selling products through paid ads, sponsored posts, and influencer marketing to complete the multi-channel experience for shoppers.

Fashion and apparel, health, and beauty products are the most popular categories for social media shoppers. For a deep dive into these segments, check out our detailed review of the latest fashion and apparel stats.²⁰

This holistic approach to digital marketing enables advertisers to keep new and recurring customers interested in product releases and promotions and keeps their brand top-of-mind while browsing online.

Looking ahead to 2024 and beyond, social commerce will become an even more integral part of the eCommerce experience for advertisers and shoppers in Australia.

Implications for Retailers and Advertisers

Although large businesses were the first to capitalise on the large-scale shift of shopping habits from offline to the online space in the immediate aftermath of COVID-19, smaller advertisers and businesses too are now following suit.

Industry operators have benefited from improved internet connectivity, increasing consumer trust in online shopping, and a greater consumer emphasis on variety and value, particularly in a period of declining discretionary incomes over the past five years.

In 2023, both offline and online sales declined due to the wider economic slowdown. The number of online purchases decreased by 1% YoY in mid-2023 (PDF download), with online spending also down 3.1%.²¹

However, household participation in eCommerce continues to grow unabated. There was a 3.9% increase YoY in the number of households that made at least one monthly purchase in 2023. Regional areas were also growing faster with 4.2% growth YoY versus just 0.7% YoY for metro regions.²¹

Online shopping activity in 2023 was driven largely by consumers looking for cost savings. Free delivery is important for 43% of shoppers, while an overwhelming 75% expect businesses to provide free returns.²¹

Sales events will continue to become more important as 85% of younger shoppers in the 18-34 age group plan their online purchases around these events in the coming years.²¹

Profitability and Barriers to Entry

Despite massive growth in eCommerce over the last few years, studies indicate that the profitability of retailers has actually decreased. According to a study by AlixPartners on US-based retailers, an increase in online penetration from 9.4% in 2012 to 25.6% in 2022 was accompanied by a corresponding decrease in profit margins from 13.8% to just 8.3%.²²

As more consumers prefer shopping online, retailers have to invest heavily in digital infrastructure to offer competitive services. Start-up and maintenance costs for major websites and high competition in the industry have kept profit margins low.

However, the overall barrier to entering the eCommerce sector has gone down with advances in technology. This is reflected in the number of new participants in the sector. Since 2019, the number of online businesses in the Australian market has increased by 10%. Despite the presence of giants like Amazon, the number of smaller eCommerce businesses in Australia will exceed 87,000 in 2024.²³

Outlook On eCommerce Growth - What's Next?

Although the relaxation of COVID restrictions and rising inflation has had a dampening effect, the Australian eCommerce retail market has maintained positive growth since 2022. The outlook remains bright with robust growth predicted for the next five years.

With lowering inflation levels, increasing rates of internet penetration, and the emergence of new online stores, we can expect similar growth levels in 2024 and beyond.

Australia itself has benefitted from the rollout of the national broadband network (NBN) in recent years, which has seen faster broadband speeds offered to a larger percentage of the population. Rising internet penetration, increased transaction security and the steady introduction of 5G should also increase the percentage of potential online shoppers in Australia.

These improvements are anticipated to increase the average spend per customer.

Wrapping Up

The continued rise of eCommerce in this fast-paced, interconnected world has driven ongoing revenue growth. eCommerce retailers who have adapted quickly to these paradigm shifts in online shopping habits have seen increased profit margins.

Looking forward to 2024 and beyond, all advertisers and businesses – both physical and online – need to keep track of Australian online shopping statistics.

Advertisers should pay specific attention to industry trends, eCommerce growth, and consumer confidence within their industry to unlock insights and opportunities to increase market share and revenue growth.

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Key eCommerce and Online Shopping Statistics in Australia in 2024

Table of contents:

eCommerce and Online Shopping Statistics in Australia in 2024

How Fast Is eCommerce Growing in Australia?

Key Trends Shaping Australia’s eCommerce Sector

1. Growth in New Sectors and New Markets

2. Digital Marketing Spend Remains Consistent

3. The Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL) Revolution

4. Stiff Competition From Physical Stores

5. Sustainable Shopping

6. Click and Collect

7. Social Shopping

Implications for Retailers and Advertisers

Profitability and Barriers to Entry

Outlook On eCommerce Growth - What's Next?

Wrapping Up

References

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