Aussie shopping spree to deliver record online shopping bonanza

Peter Dinham
Monday, 05 December 2011 19:33

IT Industry - Market

This week and in the lead up to Christmas, Australians are expected to go on an online shopping spree in a big way, with predictions that a piece of women's clothing will be sold every 6 seconds, a piece of fashion jewellery sold every 12 seconds, a pair of women's shoes every 40 seconds and a watch will be sold every 46 seconds, helping to take Australia's online commerce revenues to $30 billion by the end of the year.

According to a new forecast by Australia's leading online commerce enablers, PayPal, eBay and Australia Post, we are set this week for the busiest ever online shopping week, peaking with eBay.com.au's predicted busiest online shopping day this Sunday.

PayPal's secure insights report recently predicted $30 billion in revenues for the Australian online ecommerce sector in 2011, and eBay, PayPal and Australia Post all predict a surge in spending this week as consumers look to save time and money by shopping for this year's Christmas presents online or via their smartphone.

Elena Wise, Acting Managing Director, PayPal Australia says that over the last year, online commerce in Australia has 'grown at a rate of 11 per cent and a huge number of Australian and international retailers have opened their virtual store doors to Australians.'  'This year, consumers will be shopping across a mix of retail channels, from their PC's, to their mobiles to in-store. Wherever they are shopping, consumers are looking for flexibility, convenience and security.'

And, according to Deborah Sharkey, Vice President, eBay, when it comes to hunting down the best products at the best prices, Australian consumers have 'stepped up a gear in the last 12 months and are now an army of savvy online deal hunters.' Sharkey says that with more than 10 million Australians now shopping online, 'smart shoppers can get the best deals on gifts and save time and energy to spend on the most important ingredients of the festive period - friends and family.'

Australia Post is expecting a big increase in shipments of items purchased online, with Ahmed Fahour, Managing Director and CEO saying the company is making sure it is ready for the surge in volumes. 'We're opening more than 700 of our retail outlets for extended hours on weekdays and have 2,400 retail outlets now open on Saturdays to make collecting your parcels even easier.  Since July, we've seen parcels growing at almost 13 per cent compared to the same time last year - a figure which can be directly linked to Australians taking up online shopping in record numbers. '

The predictions in a nutshell:

'¢    PayPal predicts w/c 5 December to be the busiest online shopping week Australia has ever seen

'¢    eBay forecasts w/c 5 December to be the busiest week for purchases culminating in Sunday 11th December as the busiest online shopping day with over 1.6 million Australian's visiting eBay.com.au on that one day alone

'¢     Australia Post predicts they will deliver an extra 3 million parcels in December this year