Late last year, esprit detailed the sales success of beauty companies during the Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping bonanza.

But, according to the 2020 Inside Australian Online Shopping Report from Australia Post, this year’s Easter long weekend overtook the 2019 Black Friday/Cyber Monday shopping event to become the busiest period in Australian online shopping history.

Overall purchases increased 91 per cent year-on-year for the week before Mother’s Day, says Australia Post.

 Major winners included beauty purchases – up 130 per cent – and fashion accessories and arts and crafts – both up 140 per cent.

More than 200,000 new online shoppers entered the e-commerce market in April, reveals the report.

One million more people overall purchased online every week, by contrast to the average in 2019.

Last year, Australians spent $32 billion online.

Australia Post predicts that e-commerce is on track to account for 15 per cent of retail sales, excluding cafes, restaurants and takeaways – up from  10 per cent in 2018.

Timing has changed as well, says Ben Franzi, general manager of parcel and express services for Australia Post.

 “In the past we could see a concentration of purchasing between 7pm and 10pm,” he said.

“But in recent months this has become more evenly spread throughout the day, as more people work from home and spend less time commuting.”

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