Baby Boomers and West Australians spend big despite cost of living crisis

Although the cost of living crisis is raging, two groups of Aussies seem to be largely unaffected and are still happily splashing their cash.

Although the cost of living crisis is raging, two groups of Aussies seem to be largely unaffected and are still happily splashing their cash.

Baby Boomers and Western Australians are spending way more in online shopping than their younger and eastern counterparts.

A new report into Australia’s online shopping habits, released by Australia Post, has found a massive disparity between Baby Boomers and Zoomers.

At the same time, Western Australians also appear largely resilient to the current crisis, buying significantly more eCommerce products than any other state or territory.

The report, Inside Australian Online Shopping, stated that growth in retail was “decelerating” but these two groups of Australians are entirely bucking that trend.

Australia Post’s report into the eCommerce industry noted the blistering difference in spending across generations.

“It was a tale of two cohorts in 2023,” the authors noted.

“While Baby Boomers enjoyed financial freedom, spending nearly $1 billion more than they did last year, the younger generations cut back on spending in light of financial pressures.”

Indeed, Generation Z, or ‘Zoomers’, who are aged 26 or under, experience an 11 per cent drop for their expenditure on eCommerce last year.

Australia Post finds Baby Boomers spending more than before despite cost of living crisis.

Meanwhile, Baby Boomers spent a whopping seven per cent more.

Gen Y and Gen X, the two generations in between, were relatively more stable, spending two per cent less and one per cent more than the previous year, respectively.

Baby Boomers spent an average of $109 every time they checked out a product to be delivered to them. Zoomers, in comparison, had a much more modest average basket cost of $80.

Zoomers used up their money mostly on fashion items while home and garden supplies made up the most popular purchase category for Boomers.

Growth in retail spending “decelerated” last year compared to the previous 12 months.

It dropped from what was described as an “exceptional” 9.3 per cent to a “modest two per cent, “below the pre-Covid average”, according to the report.

Baby Boomers were well above this average while Generation Z were well below it.

Western Australia led the way in 2023 with the highest growth in the space of a year when it came to online purchases, at 5.1 per cent.

Again, this was above the two per cent growth average.

In fact, most of Australia’s states and territories were above this, with the exception of Victoria, NSW and the ACT, which all went into minus numbers in terms of growth.

Australia Post acknowledged that spending may have slowed, but more Australian households “than ever before” are embracing online shopping.

Last year, eight in 10 households bought something online.

Aussies spent $361 billion on retail goods last year. Of that, $63.6 billion was spent on eCommerce.

In that same space of time, 43 per cent of Australian retailers raised their free shipping thresholds.

Some even introduced a fee to send back items for a refund which the report noted was “a bold move to shift the cost of returns to the consumer”.

Originally published as Baby Boomers and West Australians spend big despite cost of living crisis