Yahoo Finance Postcodes revealed: Where Australia’s biggest online shoppers live
Australia’s most prolific online shoppers during 2020 were largely based in Victoria, as Melbourne’s multiple snap lockdowns forced people to do their shopping online, a new report has revealed.
People who lived in Victoria’s Point Cook, Cranbourne, Hoppers Crossing, Craigieburn and Doreen shopped the most by purchase volume in the entire country, Australia Post revealed in its latest eCommerce industry report.
This was followed by Queensland’s Toowoomba, NSW’s Liverpool and Rouse Hill, Victoria’s Ballarat, and then NSW’s Gosford rounding out the top 10.
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“In each of the nation’s top five postcodes, residents shopped more than twice as much as they did in 2019, with at least 90 per cent of households having shopped online,” the report said.
“For the top four locations, online shopping participation increased by five percentage points or more in 2020.”
As the pandemic forced people to stay indoors, a record 9 million (or 82 per cent) of all Australian households shopped online in 2020, Australia Post’s report revealed.
Aussies spent a record $50.46 billion online last year, representing a 57 per cent increase year-on-year, it found.
In fact, last year, it took the nation just over eight months to exceed what we spent in 2019.
Even people who had never shopped online before entered the fray, with 1.36 million Aussies buying something through digital means for the first time in 2020.
Ben Franzi, Australia Post’s general manager of parcel and express services, believes the new pandemic-triggered shopping habits are here to stay.
“Online shopping was initially driven by necessity while bricks and mortar stores were closed, and this habit became ingrained even as restrictions eased,” he said.
“Shoppers’ habits have changed and while they are more engaged than ever, they are also more comfortable buying from a broader cross-section of retailers and categories.”
Early 2021 has seen roughly 5 million Australians shopping online every month, Franzi added.
What Aussies bought online in 2020
Australia’s newest online shoppers fall into two categories, according to the report.
“The first are young and mid-life families, who are on-trend and tech-savvy yet also conscious and pragmatic about what they buy and where their money goes. The second are older households, likely retired and often living more rurally.”
Nearly half of Australia’s new online shoppers bought home and garden items or purchased from variety stores, the report found.
Meanwhile, Australia’s ‘regular’ online shoppers, that is, those who shopped online in 2019, typically “tend to be professional, and [are] career and family focused” and mostly live in major cities.
“They don’t mind splurging on discretionary items … a mix of young parents and mid-life families with above-average income who tend to live in their own homes in metropolitan areas.”
Popular with ‘regular’ shoppers were items from major and discount stores; online marketplaces; and homeware and appliances.
Mobile phones were the most popular method for online shopping (91 per cent), followed by laptops (76 per cent). Tablets and smart TVs were neck and neck at 61 per cent and 60 per cent respectively.
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