With pressure easing on hip pockets, Australians are splurging more online but some remain wary of being stung by interest rate speculation.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
or signup to continue reading
See subscription optionsShoppers spent $19.2 billion online from the start of April to the end of June, up 15 per cent compared to the same period in 2024, Australia Post's quarterly e-commerce report reveals.
About 7.9 million Australian households made a purchase over the web in the quarter, which was capped by end-of-financial-year (EOFY) sales.
Online consumers were more willing to spend than 12 months ago due to inflation easing and impending rate cuts.
"With inflation cooling and consumer confidence returning, we're seeing more Australians shop online, with higher expectations," Australia Post's Chelsea O'Reilly said.
"Shoppers are spending more, but they're also expecting more in the way of speed, convenience and value."
Millennials led the online splurge, coughing up $6.9 billion in the quarter, followed by Generation X who handed over $5.3 billion. Generation Z forked out $3.4 billion while Baby Boomers spent $2.8 billion.
Jen Lele, a millennial mother of three, took advantage of the EOFY sales to stock up on kids' clothes, household essentials and gifts for birthdays of her children's friends.
The 39-year-old home-owner from Melbourne's southeast said it felt like the right time to splurge, given talk of a possible interest rate cut.
"Anyone who owns a house took a bit of hit last year so there were things that weren't able to be purchased," she told AAP.
"When my husband and I had heard the interest rates may be better ... we jumped on that."
Ms Lele, who works in the retail industry, said she was surprised earlier in July when the Reserve Bank decided to keep rates on hold at 3.85 per cent.
Burned by the board's cautious approach, she has moved to a "wait and see" mode on unnecessary online buys for the time being.
"Hopefully we'll see a rate cut closer to Christmas which will obviously help everyone," Ms Lele said.
Online marketplaces, food and liquor, and fashion claimed the biggest shares of online sales in the quarter, while spending on online department stores shot up 28 per cent year-on-year to $1 billion.
The average basket size shrunk slightly to $96.
Queensland regionals centres Toowoomba, Mackay, and Bundaberg had the nation's biggest quarterly parcel volumes, with Point Cook in Melbourne's west and Mandurah south of Perth rounding out the top five.
Australian Associated Press
