July 24, 2012
The Age
Online shopping is expected to make up 6.3 per cent of total retail sales by the end of the year as more than half of Australian consumers purchase goods on the web, a survey shows.
The PwC and Frost and Sullivan Global Retail and Consumer report shows a record 53 per cent of Australian consumers aged above 15 years are now buying online.
Online shopping growth was likely to be stimulated by the entry of more online retailers, manufacturers communicating directly with consumers, more product expansion and the growth of mobile commerce.
The report predicted clothing, footwear, jewellery and fashion accessories would enjoy the most growth over the next five years.
PwC Global retail & consumer advisory leader Stuart Harker said online shopping was now mainstream and Australian retailers were under significant pressure to reset their business models.
“Like retailers in the US and UK are doing, Australian retailers must fundamentally rethink their strategy, particularly in relation to their real estate and store portfolio,” Mr Harker said.
“The days of growing by simply opening more stores are long gone.”
The report predicts online shopping expenditure in Australia will reach $16 billion by the end of the year, up 17 per cent from the $13.6 billion expenditure in 2011.
“This equates to 6.3 per cent of total retail sales,” the report says.
A massive 55 per cent of respondents cited lower prices as the most important reason for shopping online, up from 50 per cent last year.
More than a quarter of online purchases were now made on mobile devices, compared with 21 per cent last year, with 26- to 35-year-olds most likely to shop with their phone.
The survey is based on a comprehensive survey of 1000 Australian consumers aged between 15 and 65 who have shopped online in the past 12 months.
AAP
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