For online retail.
There has been a significant shift in Australia’s online retail landscape with consumers and businesses changing the way they shop and sell. The PayPal mCommerce Index: Trends Report 2019, revealed new technologies and trends that are changing the game for online retailers in Australia.
It found 68 per cent of respondents are always on the lookout for online sales or discounts and over 58 per cent have made an impulse purchase because of a sale, with shoppers buying an average of 2.7 impulse items with an unplanned spend of $108 per quarter. Gen Y are the biggest impulse spenders, buying an average of 3.6 unplanned items at a cost of $145 in the last three months. Younger Australians and more affluent shoppers are more likely to always be looking for sales, regardless of age.
Consumers are also becoming more conditioned to regular discounts from retailers, with half of all respondents saying they have waited until an item was on sale before buying it online and 16 per cent said they only shop online when items are on sale.
PayPal Australia director Peter Cowan said: “Sales drive action, but despite strong consumer demand for regular discounts, only one-in-five online retailers reported that they always have at least one sale running. This gap between consumers’ desire for finding a bargain and retailers’ sales activity highlights an opportunity that retailers can leverage to drive greater sales volumes and attract new customers. We found that over a third of Australians have bought a brand online they wouldn’t usually buy because it was on sale, which is huge for smaller retailers wanting to build brand awareness and win new customers.”
While most Australians, 57 per cent, now prefer to shop for sales online rather than in-store, 51 per cent of sale shopping is done at physical retail. And this preference to shop the sales online is significantly higher for younger shoppers who now use their mobile devices to shop the sales more than they use their laptops and desktops.
“If you’re on sale you’ve got to be online and mobile-optimised, particularly if you’re targeting youth markets, where the majority do their online sale shopping via mobile,” Cowan said. “Retailers should also think outside of the traditional sales periods and consider offering their customers personalised discounts throughout the year.”
Boxing Day, EOFY, Black Friday and mid-season sales are the most popular sales periods in Australia. However, close to 37 per cent expect brands to offer online discounts outside traditional sales periods.