Athleisure was by far the highest-performing retail category in the Australian online market during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales period.
This is according to new data from Australia Post, which shows that athleisure volumes grew 42 per cent year-on-year.
This is well ahead of books and stationery, the second-highest performing category, which grew 24.7 per cent.
Women’s fashion also boomed by 18 per cent year-on-year, with department stores also reaping growth of 16 per cent, indicating support for domestic online retailers.
Total parcel volumes for Australia Post during the sales period grew by 6.3 per cent, with over 5.8 million processed altogether.
The data also shows that shoppers spent approximately $1.5 billion online during BF/CM.
Across the country, New South Wales shopped the most online, accounting for one-third of total e-commerce parcel volumes. Western Australia recorded the strongest growth in online shopping, with a 10.8 per cent spike, followed by Victoria (up 6.3 per cent), and Queensland (up 6 per cent).
While sales over the four-day period hit record-breaking growth, promotions and discounting began well before the official start date of November 28.
Australia Post executive GM of parcel, post and e-commerce services, Gary Starr, said despite deals starting sooner, Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to be defining moments on the retail calendar.
“Our latest Quarterly eCommerce report found 50 per cent of shoppers had their sights set on Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales, a trend clearly reflected in this record-setting sales period,” Starr said.
“We anticipate this surge to continue well up until Christmas.”
Across both physical and digital shopping channels, Black Friday/Cyber Monday sales were projected to hit a record $6.8 billion over the four-day weekend – a 4 per cent increase on last year – according to data shared by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) in partnership with Roy Morgan.