Australia Post has delivered to 9.3 million Aussie households after fulfilling record online purchases in the past financial year.
For just the second time ever, total households shopping online across the nation surpassed 9 million. This was up from 9.1 million the previous financial year, while online purchases grew almost 12 per cent.
The six months from July to December 2021 were particularly strong as the impacts of COVID saw Australians turn to e-commerce like never before.
An average of 5.6 million households purchased something online each month in FY22, 1.5 million more than the average in FY20.
New South Wales, which experienced extended lockdowns last year, grew more than 27 per cent year-on-year (YOY) and had the highest participation compared with its share of population, with around one in three purchases destined for the state.
The ACT (more than 27 per cent YOY) and Western Australia (14 per cent YOY) also saw significant growth in online purchases year-on-year.
More than a billion parcels have been delivered via Australia Post’s online parcel management platform since its launch in 2016, and Australia Post Head of eCommerce Analytics Rose Yip said the growth in online shopping had accelerated beyond expectations throughout the pandemic.
“We’ve seen more than 900 million parcels delivered in the last three years alone, which says so much about how quickly e-commerce has grown in a short amount of time,” she said.
“It’s now the norm for so many Australians, with more than five million households regularly shopping online every month, which is why we’ve not only increased our network capacity but we’re investing in more new facilities, technology and our fleet to set up a strong and sustainable network for the future,” said Yip.
Popular buys were pet products (up 38 per cent YOY), tools and garden items (29 per cent) and products from major and discount stores (32 per cent), while baby products and athleisure items also grew.
Recent End of Financial Year (EOFY) sales were also a boon for sellers of athleisure, sporting and outdoor goods, which were all up on the previous month.