Online shoppers set to double down on the channel this year 

Irene Dong

16th Jun 2023

Shoppers’ online behaviours from the previous three years seem to have persisted, despite the fact that brick-and-mortar stores have made a big comeback during the past 18 months. 

Researchers for CouriersPlease asked a randomly selected group of 1005 committed Australian online adult shoppers who had completed at least three online transactions in the previous three months about their spending intentions for the rest of this year. 

Almost half (47 per cent) of respondents expect online to account for more than 50 per cent of their shopping this year, and three-quarters (73 per cent) say online will account for at least 30 per cent of their shopping.  

Respondents were given a list of 10 retail categories, including apparel, cosmetics, personal electronics, toys, and games, and asked what proportion of those purchases they anticipated making online by the end of the year.  

“We delivered more than 30 million parcels across Australia and internationally last year, up 2 million from 2021,” said Richard Thame, CEO at CouriersPlease. 

“These survey results reflect what we have been seeing at CouriersPlease: consumers are continuing to use online retailers for their purchases, with a significant proportion relying on online retail for more than half of their shopping.” 

The findings show that the younger the consumer, the more inclined they are to shop online. More than half (58 per cent) of 18-30-year-olds will have done at least 50 per cent of their shopping online, followed by 53 per cent of those aged 31-50 and only 36 per cent of those over 50, demonstrating that younger age groups value the convenience that internet shopping provides.