H2 2020: The State of E-C...

H2 2020: The State of E-Commerce in Australia

Apr 29, 2021
H2 2020: The State of E-Commerce in Australia

(Click here to view the HD version of this infographic)

It has been exactly a year since our very first State of E-Commerce featuring Australia! So how much has e-commerce in Australia grown since 2019? 

Over the past year, e-commerce sales in Australia grew rapidly. In the 12 months from March 2019 to February 2020, total online sales had an average annual growth rate of 14.4%.

Australians spent over $50.46 billion online, accounting for 16.3% of total retail spending in 2020. In addition to the increase in online spending, it appears that Australians expect their online shopping frequency to remain 28% higher than before the pandemic

With that, let’s take a look at how much their State of E-commerce has changed over the second half of 2020:

The number of e-commerce parcels increased by 1.67x during Christmas last year

During the Christmas period in 2020, Australia Post reported the largest parcel volume ever recorded. The logistics carrier was delivering over 52 million parcels during December! The retail spend in Australia during the Christmas period was also forecasted to have hit $54.2 billion, a 2.8% increase from 2019. 

The online retail sales also accounted for 9.1% of the total retail sales in December 2020

“The impressive retail trade results we saw in November have continued through to Christmas, with Aussies spending $30.4 billion in stores and online in December alone,” Australian Retailers Association (ARA) CEO Paul Zahra said.

92% of parcels were successfully delivered at first attempt 

During the lockdown period, many Australians were encouraged to stay home and work from home. Naturally, this meant that most consumers would be home to receive their parcels, which explains the high percentage of parcels being successfully delivered at first attempt, significantly reducing the possibility of missed deliveries during the year.

61% of parcels were successfully picked up from collection points within 24h

In our previous study on Australia, delivery alternatives were growing in popularity with 23% of Australians using parcel lockers and collection points to collect their parcels. 

Over the second half of 2020, our data suggests that 61% of parcels were successfully picked up from collection points within 24 hours. In fact, Australia Post has over 400 parcel locker stations in partnership with InPost as of May 2020

Australia’s Recovery from COVID-19

More cities in Australia have exited lockdown and things seemed to have gone back to normal for many Australians. It is great to see that the country has managed to recover from the effects of COVID-19. We look forward to seeing their e-commerce growth even further in the second half of 2021! 

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