- 9.8 million households shopped online in the past year, up 2.3% year-on-year (YoY)1.
- Cost of living pressures resulted in lowest average basket size for a decade.
- Online spend continues to outpace in-store retail spend.
- 1 in 2 Gen Zs and Millennials shop every week via social media.
- Generation Alpha set to hit the shopping scene, currently directly influencing $8.5 trillion of worldwide spending.
Australians spent a record $69 billion on online goods in the past year2, up 12% from the year prior, as reported in Australia Post's 2025 Annual eCommerce Report released today.
The report exclusively reveals 9.8 million Australian households shopped online in 2024, spending the most at Online Marketplaces (almost $16 billion), Food and Liquor ($13.6 billion) and Fashion and Apparel ($9.6 billion).
Despite online shopping reaching an all-time high in Australia, cost-of-living pressures saw the average basket size drop to $95, down 2.1% from last year and the lowest in a decade. Aussie households have been careful with how they spend their money, using online shopping to manage costs and shop strategically for affordable items.
According to the data, Millennials contributed almost $25 billion to total online spend, followed by Gen X ($19 billion), Gen Z ($12 billion) Baby Boomers ($10 billion) and Builders ($2.7 billion). The rise of social commerce saw almost half of Gen Z and Millennials making an online purchase every week via social media.
Founder of Tomorrow Retail Consulting, a global retail advisory firm, Jordan Berke said: "The integration of content and commerce is rapidly enhancing the eCommerce channel, offering retailers a unique opportunity to leverage storytelling to connect with consumers.
"5 billion people now use social media, and retailers can't ignore the progressive shift to shopping on social channels. The earlier a business can learn to stand out via social, the better they will be positioned in the years to come," Mr Berke said.
As spending habits continue to shift in favour of online shopping, it's Gen Alpha who are currently influencing $8.5 trillion in global spending.
Social Researcher, Mark McCrindle said: "Gen Alpha are more than the next generation of consumers. They are digital natives redefining retail and shaping the future of eCommerce. Paying attention to the values and preferences of Gen Alpha will be vital for retailers looking to connect with consumers."
Today's online shoppers are now sharing their dollars across an average of 16 retailers, making it easy to compare to find the best price which can reduce customer loyalty.
Australia Post Executive General Manager Parcel, Post and eCommerce Services Gary Starr said: "With cost-of-living pressures and high inflation an ongoing concern, Aussies turn to key sales events and loyalty programs to stretch their dollar further.
"We know that three-quarters of businesses are concerned that frequent sales events are training shoppers to only buy goods that are on sale. But we have to embrace that Aussies love a sale and strategic shopping has now become the norm.
"The record-breaking cyber period which saw Aussies spend $2.2 billion3 online shows shoppers are waiting for these sales to do all their shopping at once.
"As online shopping continues to outpace bricks and mortar, retailers who don't participate in as many sales events throughout the year should consider developing an enticing loyalty strategy. That could be via a subscription or other forms of rewards and points to create loyalty, consistency and in return repeat purchases," Mr Starr concluded.
The highest growth across the country was in the Northern Territory, which saw 11.3% growth in the number of online purchases, followed closely by Tasmania (11.1%) and Queensland (7.3%).
To learn more about these trends and access data and insights about shoppers, visit Australia Post Annual eCommerce Report: http://auspost.com.au/einsight.
Media contacts:
Morgan Griffin, Public Relations Advisor, Australia Post
M: 0459 703 383
Anna Garcia, Senior Public Relations Manager, Australia Post
M: 0409 402 966
About Australia Post:
As Australia's postal service for more than 215 years, we're at the heart of every community. Last financial year we delivered more than 2.3 billion items to 12.7 million delivery points. Australia Post has one of the largest retail networks nationally, with more than 4,000 Post Offices. Australia Post employs people of all ages, genders, and abilities in our extended workforce of more than 64,000 team members, reflective of the diverse communities we operate in. We are proud to be included in the inaugural Indigenous Employment Index with 3% of our workforce identifying as Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander and we are one of the largest Australian employers to be certified as a Disability Confident Recruiter.
1 Australia Post Group parcels data, 2018 to 2024. All household counts are limited to residential households and exclude households that received an excessive number of parcels per year to remove outliers from the distribution.
2 CommBank iQ. Consumer spend & online transactions percentage is based on banking transaction data (debits/ credit cards BPAY, direct debit) and estimation for buy now pay later payments. Generation x Category report 2024.
3 How Did Australians Shop During This Year's Black Friday Sales? CommBank iQ, 2024