Australia’s eCommerce sector continues to outpace bricks and mortar retail growth, with eWAY’s Q1 2015 Online Retail Report revealing a 22 per cent increase in transaction volumes for the first quarter, compared to the previous corresponding period (PCP).
Global payments platform eWAY, which powers 18,000 online stores and processes a quarter of all online payments locally, reported a total spend in Australia of $A4.37 billion for the months January to March 2015, up from $A3.6 billion in the first quarter 2014.
This quarter was down only a marginal 6.9 per cent on Q4 2014, the key retail quarter of the year, demonstrating strong momentum for what will likely be a record year online.
Other key highlights of the report include:
- People in Melbourne’s CBD continue to hold the title of Australia’s top online shopping city, receiving 2.59 per cent of all local parcel deliveries, well ahead of Sydney CBD’s 1.85 per cent
- People in Sydney’s CBD are bigger spenders though — averaging $285 per transaction, compared to Melbourne’s $160
- Regionally, residents in Toowoomba QLD are the top online consumers, while Colac VIC and Blacktown NSW jumped up notably from Q1 2014 to make it into the top 20
- Tuesdays record the highest volume of daily sales for the quarter, while the 6pm - 9pm time slot accounts for 20.5 per cent of all sales, and is increasing the greatest PCP
- Top performing categories for the quarter were Household Items, Discount Stores, Electronics, Travel and Education. Restaurants experienced 151 per cent growth on PCP
- International sales volumes (deliveries to international postcodes) increased almost 30 per cent on PCP, and the number of transactions made was also up 25 per cent
eWAY’s founder and CEO Matt Bullock offered the following analysis on the data, and insights from Australian businesses:
“eWAY’s first quarter report provides strong indication that 2015 will be another record year for Australian eCommerce, and there are some lessons small businesses can take from the data.
“We saw the strongest growth rate in consumers transacting between 6pm to 9pm. With the current debate around state-based reforms to trading hours regulations as recommended in the Harper Report, it sends a clear message about changing consumer appetites for 24hr, or at least extended trading hours.
“With the Australian dollar down substantially on this time last year, the dollar value of physical purchases sent to international postcodes is up almost 30 per cent. There is a clear window of opportunity for small businesses to open up their offering to global markets, if they are not already. The increasingly sophisticated and cheap postage services make this more feasible than ever.
“Travel, restaurants and dining, and education are all experiencing exponential growth compared to this time last year — which are not your typical online categories - going to show it’s not just consumer electronics and fashion that is doing well online. Anyone considering opening an online store this year would want to do so in categories experiencing high growth.
“eWAY expects to reach record online transaction volumes in 2015, as a result of Aussie businesses realising the potential of omni-channel retailing in Australia.”