Australia Post reveals items shoppers are buying the most online as new trends emerge

Australia’s love affair with online shopping continues to skyrocket. See the full list of the busiest suburbs near you and what they’re buying now.

Exclusive: More Australians are addicted to retail therapy than ever, as shopping continues to skyrocket with 80 per cent of households buying online.

Australia Post’s latest eCommerce report obtained by News Corp has revealed shoppers spent more than $62 billion online last year, increasing their collective number of purchases by a staggering 73.1 per cent in two years.

The report revealed online shopping accounted for almost 20 per cent of total retail sales in 2021, and the type of products shoppers were buying was also changing.

Online purchases from variety stores like Kmart, Target and BIG W experienced a whopping 100 per cent growth in two years, with the most popular products being athleisure, baby products, footwear, pet products, tools and garden, sporting and outdoor goods, and women’s fashion.

Many shoppers are buying from variety stores online. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Dean Martin

One in four shoppers chose where to shop based on a brand’s ethics and sustainability practices, and more than half were willing to pay more for those products.

In NSW, the top five suburbs making the most purchases online were Liverpool, Rouse Hill, Camden, Gosford, and Campbelltown.

The ACT’s top suburbs were Dunlop, Weston, Ngunnawal, O’Connor, and Belconnen.

In Victoria the top five shopping suburbs were Point Cook, Hoppers Crossing, Cranbourne, Craigieburn and Doreen.

Regional towns took out the top five spots in Queensland which included Toowoomba, Upper Coomera, Mackay, Bundaberg and Caloundra.

The South Australian suburbs with the highest purchase volume for online shopping were Happy Valley, Morphett Vale, Paralowie, Craigmore and Hallet Cove.

In the Northern Territory, Coconut Grove, Stuart Park, Gillen, Rosebery and Palmerston were the top five suburbs.

Australia Post’s Melbourne Parcel Facility in full swing. Picture: Mark Stewart

Tasmania’s top five shopping suburbs were Launceston, Devonport, Howrah, Burnie and Hobart.

In Western Australia, the top suburbs were Mandurah, Success, Wanneroo, Armadale and Hamilton Hill.

Australian Retail Association CEO Paul Zahra said it appeared this growing shopping habit was here to stay.

Of the 1.7 million new shoppers in 2020, 1.4 million households continued to purchase online in 2021, the report said.

“We’ve seen a powerful and permanent shift in the way people live, work and how people purchase the goods and services they need,” Mr Zahra said.

Griffith University marketing expert Dr Park Thaichon said the peak of the 2020 pandemic saw rates of online shopping surge, particularly in metropolitan areas that experienced more restrictions.

“Work from home policies and the fear of going out due to Covid have been major factors motivating many to change their buying behaviour since early 2020,” Dr Park said.

The Australian’s E-Commerce Summit 2022 will be held online on April 7. The summit explore the continued rise of e-commerce and how Covid has changed the landscape for retailers. Information can be found here.