According to a report released today by the ACMA, “88 per cent of household internet users undertaking one or more e-commerce activities and 69 per cent purchasing at least one good or service in the last six months”. I’m glad I’m not a retail franchisee at the moment…
According to the study, travel goods and services were the most popular purchases online (56 percent), followed by concerts, events or movie tickets (43 percent) and trailed by household items, including computers and other home-related gadgetry (47 percent). Unsurprisingly, young people bought more stuff online than old people, while convenience was the number one reason for buying using a mouse rather than cash.
Of course, none of this is overly surprising, although it’s does make me wonder about whether these statistics translate to the Gizmodo audience. What kind of stuff do you buy online? Gadgets? Or just incidental things? Is there a maximum spend you won’t go over when buying online? Let us know in comments.
James
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:06 PMIt’s amazing what you can’t by in my local (major) city. Things you would think at least one place has, but no. And the mark up on imported goods is just incredible. Over 100% in many cases. Why is it 100% cheaper for me to buy something overseas and have it shipped to my house? Why?
mbryant
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 8:48 PMA markup of 100% here would make it 50% cheaper to buy overseas. If it was 100% cheaper to buy overseas, you’d be paying $0.
Chris Guerin
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:19 PMI’ve recently bought a few games from ozgameshop.com. A UK based company that sells games that are compatible with Australian systems. Way cheaper as to getting it at retail here, free postage too :)
But it takes about 2-3 Weeks for your order to arrive, but I don’t care, as long as it’s cheaper that retain here I’m fine.
Sicarius123
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:33 PMI generally buy expensive items online due to the massive rip off that is Australian Retail Price.
Besides that I will buy what I want online instead of settling with inferior brands in my local stores.
Chris Guerin
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:39 PMI also tend to buy things that aren’t even in Australian stores, e.g. Forza 3 Ultimate Edition for Xbox 360. None of the Australian retailers that I went to had it in stock. Some even didn’t know that it even existed!!
Cam
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:44 PMI buy a lot of things online, anything from a $2.59 cigarette adapter USB charger from dealextreme in china to a $1000 set of wheels for my bicycle from wiggle in the uk, and everything in between. Price is the biggest driver as is availability of items, but if prices are close I prefer to support local stores.
Bike gear is probably my biggest purchase, mostly because it is half price from the UK, has free shipping, and rarely takes longer than 5 working days to arrive.
I think the last geek thing I bought online were a set of Ultimate Ears headphones from NSW.
Dean
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:51 PMIn less time than it would take me to drive to my local big box retail centre, I’ve just shopped for and bought a bed, mattress and doona over the Internet. All much cheaper than retail and delivered directly to my door.
Of the fifty books I’ve purchased this year, none were from a retail bookstore. They rarely carry the titles I’m after and even if they do, the shelf price is over the top.
Grocery shopping on the Internet is a godsend. I can place my order at any time of the day, with no parking hassles, no searching up and down aisles, and no lugging arm loads of bags in and out of the car. The delivery guy even takes the groceries into the kitchen.
All my banking is online. In fact my bank doesn’t even have a physical branch. I can’t even think of a bill I’ve paid in person in the last few year.
Now if Bunnings had an online store, I’d never have a reason to leave the house!
bug
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 1:52 PMare you guys talking about buying stuff from overseas stores or from local stores online?
i think the reason why ppl buy stuff online in Australia is the fact that this is a very large country with not as much population thus in order to serve all of them it’s better for companies to move/open online stores so even for a large city like Melbourne or Brisbane you find out that many things are impossible to buy at retail stores especially that customers (us) are tending to need more choice flexibility and product customisations.not to mention the cheaper prices.
also for many of us who depend on public transport (as they are very good in australia ) it’s easier to get stuff delivered than carrying it to our homes
The Flash
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 2:19 PMAnything really… It’s genereally cheaper on the web… Guitar supplies like picks and strings, games, flights definitly… anything if it’s there and it’s the right price…
poedgirl
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 2:50 PMFor me, it all depends on the price difference I would receive online. If the price plus postage is close to what I could get in a retail store here, I just go out and get it. But if it is considerably different, I will just buy it online.
Of course, as many people have already mentioned, a lot of things simply aren’t stocked in local retailers. If something is even slightly obscure, it won’t be stocked at all. And for that, you will need to go online.
Then there are the cases when you want/need something right at the moment, in which case I do go to a local retail store regardless of the price saving for online.
Jamie
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 2:57 PMWhat’s a good website to get new release games?
Polite
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 3:44 PMI pretty much order everything online these days, music, games, music equipment, hi-fi gear, furniture, odds and ends, tools, software. I still buy things locally, but only if i happen to be out shopping and find something i like, or if i need something the same day. Australia prices were bad even when we were 50c to a dollar against the US, now the price difference is downright shameful.
Also, why can’t i log in with my gawker credentials anymore? The only options are guest of facebook.
Gilbert
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 6:28 PMLocal retailers are hobbled by a 10% GST penalty and a 5% duty/customs overhead penalty. Add to that the higher margins wholesalers have to make (due to smaller population) and most of the overseas price difference is gone.
Don’t buy anything overseas that might need warranty – there effectively is none, as overseas retailers are beyond the reach of the ACCC and their ilk, and freight cost usually makes warranty claims unaffordable.
Get Free International Shipping
Tuesday, November 16, 2010 at 8:42 PMI’m amazed the figure is that high, but it’s a good thing. With the dollar the way it is, it’s sure to be inflating the figures/encouraging first time shoppers too.
Free International shipping is on the increase with stores like Book Depository, Deal Extreme and StrawberryNet leading the way and there’s more big stores offering that too which makes them incredibly competitive.
I’ve been shopping online for years, so it’s nothing new to me, but I’ve GOT to get my grocery shopping done on line as THAT is the biggest nuisance for me at the moment…
Craig
Wednesday, November 17, 2010 at 11:05 AMUnfortunately, Australian Retail as we know it, will disappear. It just can’t/won’t compete on price, support, availability. GST and import duty does not account for these massive mark ups at retail – more to do with rental space/wages and other 101 essentials to keep business running. I’d also suggest that the supply chain (distributors) are a problem. Either they are not agile or lean enough to pass on savings or they are greedy and inefficient.
Australian retail usually represents poor value. Haggling over warranty returns, poor attitudes from staff, poor advise generate resentment. I would much rather support local business (most people do) but at the end of the day, if there are massive savings to be had and retailer is reliable I will go there.
Nick
Wednesday, January 19, 2011 at 10:52 AMI agree with Graig (Nov 17,2010) Australian retail will disappear as we know it. Why, because X generation and younger do not know anything about great customer service or even know what it means, since they have never been exposed to it,they are only interested in knowing when their parcel will arrive. Just think, they make an online purchase without having to speak one word to anyone, not even the delivery guy. Put this person in front of a retail shop and ask them to sell something, or offer some advice, impossible, its not going to happen. Their attitude to you is, you’re such a shmuck for buying overpriced, inferior quality product, you don’t deserve my attention, not even a smile. I’m only doing this job so I can buy this stuff at half or third of the price online, and not have to put up with idiots like you who waste my time not knowing what they want. It’s definitely made my shopping experience frustrating, and a pain in the backside. If you can’t beat them, join them they say, well that’s exactly what I’ve done, and loving it. I’ve even gone to the extent of loading a free web app that’s saving me heaps of time and money. I feel very comfortable purchasing online and believe it will become second nature for many Australians in the future, why wait, do it now, save time and money, and do it on your terms.
Online Shopping USA
Tuesday, July 12, 2011 at 10:32 AMThanks for this article and the stats, Nick.
We’d like to let you know that we have quoted you on our inforgraphic about Aussies who shop online: http://onlineshoppingusa.com.au/infographic-the-smart-aussies-who-shop-online/
JC
Tuesday, May 15, 2012 at 5:46 PMThis is a great read, and so is the full article!
I think we are all becoming more savvy online, but most retailers are stuck in the 90′s. Myer and DJ have only just tendered their online sites, and it is 2011!
Myer has 1.2 million square meters of floor space. How the hell are they meant to compete with anyone online? They have not considered the future, and now the future has overtaken them.
The beauty for online stores is 95% of use are middle class and need to worry about saving 10% on a purchase.
The other 5% are not worried about what they spend, so Louis and Patek Philippe will last forever.
The other thing that current retailers are not getting is time, time is a huge thing for online shoppers too.
Just look at net-a-porter, they/she is the largest online high-end store in the world. And she is KILLING it!
In Korea (and maybe here now) you can get off the train in the morning and order a meal, yes a single meal with all the ingredients you need. Once ordered they deliver it to your house at a set time that day.
This is not because it is cheaper than down the road, this is because society has put such a huge demand on “keeping up with the Jones” that time is worth more than anything to some people.
The next big internet sensation will be time, if you can give more time to us, you will be the next billion!
Thanks again,
JC