Apparel and accessories were the top selling product category in Australia in this year's Black Friday sales, new data from Shopify indicates.
Based on its data from more than one million businesses in approximately 175 countries, the tech business reports that Black Friday sales for its merchants in Australia have grown by 80% since last year, with 10am being the peak sales hour.
According to the figures, the average cart price for the shopping event was $149.25 in Australia, up from last year's average of $128.93, with the top selling city named as Melbourne's Southbank.
The platform reports that 65% of sales were made on mobile, while 35% took place on a desktop.
Globally, Australia was ranked as the fourth top-selling country on Black Friday, following the US, UK and Canada.
According to the data, globally, Shopify's merchants totalled USD$2.4 billion in sales on Black Friday, with apparel and accessories remaining as the top product category for purchase.
This year's Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales were anticipated to be big, with the shopping events estimated to generate $5.3 billion from November 27-30 including $1.8 billion in online sales.
According to Australia Post, participation in online shopping has reached new heights this year, with more than 8.5 million households shopping online during the year, and the average household purchasing online almost twice as frequently as they did in 2019.
The national postage carrier was anticipating a 30% increase in online purchases during the sales weekend.