Online sales growth continues to outpace bricks-and-mortar

Internet Retailing

8th Sep 2017

E-commerce sales in July 2017 jumped 8.3 per cent compared to the same month last year, according to NAB’s Online Retail Sales Index.

The monthly index showed a slight slowing of month-on-month sales growth, from 1.5 per cent in May to 0.4 per cent in July. But that is still faster than bricks-and-mortar retail, which grew 0.3 per cent month-on-month, according to ABS data.

Some e-commerce categories did better than others in July, with department stores, grocery and liquor, daily deals and fashion all showing an upward trend in July.

And while online sales of homewares and appliances slowed slightly in the month, the category still maintains the fastest overall growth position and accounts for the largest spend share.

Games and toy sales were virtually unchanged, and personal and recreation and food catering slowed but remained positive. Meanwhile, media growth halved in the 12 months to July.

NAB estimates that Australians spent around $23.06 billion over the 12 months to July 2017. This is equivalent to 7.5 per cent of spending at traditional bricks-and-mortar retailers, as measured by the ABS in the 12 months to June 2017.

SME sales represents just over a third of all online sales. Seasonally-adjusted SME sales saw a mild contraction in the month, despite strong year-on-year growth for SMEs of 17.5 per cent.