Online retail sales continue to trend at high levels but growth rates have eased back year-on-year following strong Mother’s Day sales, the NAB Online Retail Sales Index for May shows.
For the year to May 2013, Australians spent around $13.7 billion with online retailers. This level is equivalent to 6.1 per cent of the spending in the traditional bricks and mortar retail sector (excluding cafés, restaurants and takeaway food for a like-to-like comparison) in the year to April 2013.
The Index also pushed up a little in May to 228 points from 211 points in April.
Despite this, the growth rate for online retail sales slowed with year-on-year pulling back to +18 per cent compared to 24 per cent year-on-year in April.
NAB group chief economist Alan Olster said Mother’s Day promotions would’ve given shoppers a greater incentive to shop.
‘While growth for online sales was a little softer in May, this may in part reflect a boost to sales in April, related to the Mother’s Day ‘Click Frenzy’ promotion on April 23, which generated a strong sales lift for a number of participating brands,” he said.