Between November and December 2024, Australia Post delivered almost 103 million parcels, beating the previous year by 3.1%. According to the quarterly Inside Australian Online Shopping Report, the end-of-year period is Australia Post’s busiest season.
As cost-of-living pressures and high inflation continue to concern Aussie shoppers, many turned to cyber sales in a spike of online shopping activity. Approximately 2,800 parcels were delivered to Australian households every minute in November and December, with 7.6 million households making at least one purchase online during this period.
Health and Wellness was a top category, reporting a 20.5% increase in online purchases. This was followed by Athleisure and Tools & Garden, improving by 15.8% and 14.6% respectively.
In a state-by-state breakdown, it was found that the Northern Territory saw the highest year-on-year growth at 12.4%, while Tasmania reported an 11.4% increase and South Australia reported an 8.9% increase. Nationally, the suburbs with the most online shopping were the Queensland towns of Mackay and Toowoomba and the Victorian suburb of Point Cook.
On the busiest day of the year – 9 December, Australia Post delivered more than 3 million parcels, supported by 2 million deliveries per day for more than one month.
Australia Post executive general manager parcel, post and ecommerce services, Gary Starr said “As we look ahead, retailers have a tremendous opportunity to learn from and capitalise on the growing appetite for online shopping, especially during key sales events.
The record-breaking cyber weekend (29 November – 2 December 2024) which saw 7.8% growth in online purchases compared to the same time last year, shows Aussies are waiting for these sales to do all their shopping at once, cementing strategic shopping as the new norm.”
Customers are also turning to digital tracking systems, with 4.6 million Aussies using the Australia Post app to track parcels during November and December.