2015 will be another record year for online retailers
From January to March, Australians spent $4.37 billion, up from $3.6 billion in the first quarter of 2014.
This quarter was down only a marginal 6.9 per cent on the fourth quarter 2014, which is a key retail quarter of the year. eWay stated this demonstrated the strong momentum for what will likely be a record year online.
"eWAY's first quarter report provides strong indication that 2015 will be another record year for Australian eCommerce, and there are some lessons small businesses can take from the data," eWAY CEO and founder, Matt Bullock, said.
"With the Australian dollar down substantially on this time last year, the dollar value of physical purchases sent to international postcodes is up almost 30 per cent. There is a clear window of opportunity for small businesses to open up their offering to global markets, if they are not already. The increasingly sophisticated and cheap postage services make this more feasible than ever."
Bullock noted that the strongest growth rate was in consumers transacting between 6pm to 9pm, signalling a clear message about changing consumer appetites for 24hr, or at least extended trading hours of bricks and mortar retailers.
Besides the usual consumer electronics and fashion categories, other areas such as travel, restaurants, dining and education were all experiencing exponential growth compared to this time last year, Bullock said.
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Top performing categories during the first quarter included household items, discount stores, electronics, travel and education. International deliveries also rose 30 per cent.
"Anyone considering opening an online store this year would want to do so in categories experiencing high growth," he said.
"eWAY expects to reach record online transaction volumes in 2015, as a result of Aussie businesses realising the potential of omni-channel retailing in Australia."
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