By Kymberly Martin
On December 12.
Online shopping destination eBay is forecasting that Monday December 12 will set new records for online and mobile shopping across Australia. eBay predicts that more than 2.7 million people will visit eBay.com.au with 1.7 million users expects to visit the site using mobile devices, 11% more than 2015, when mobile overtook desktop activity for the first time.
There will be 113 million live listings, 64% more than in 2015 and the number of gifts that will be collected via Click and Collect services is forecast to jump by 51%, compared to 2015. And what will people buy? – A Pokéman item to sell every 16 seconds, an Apple product every 55 seconds and a VR headset to sell every two minutes.
It is expected that purchasing will peak between 8pm and 9pm for desktop users and between 9pm and 10pm for mobile visitors. During these 60 minutes 11 gifts are predicted to sell every second.
The busiest day for online and mobile shopping is a full week later than in previous years, due to a combination of changed behaviours of today’s tech savvy consumer and the maturity of Click and Collect or Buy Online Pick Up In Store services which have dramatically shortened the Christmas delivery window.
“We are expecting a high number of shoppers to take advantage of alternate delivery options like Click and Collect allowing them to pick up their gifts direct from retailers,” eBay senior director of marketing and retail innovation, Steve Brennen said. “This year there will be over four million products available for pick up from retail partners like Target and The Good Guys as well as from thousands of Woolworths supermarkets. This appears to be a real tipping point in the way Australians shop in the lead-up to Christmas.”
The most active postcards are Werribee and Truganina in Victoria, Toowoomba and Mackay in Queensland and Liverpool and Campbelltown in New South Wales.