In an industry first, Amazon has overtaken eBay to become the leading marketplace in Australia, according to new research from global ecommerce accelerator, Pattern, with 94% of shoppers planning to buy from these platforms over the coming year.

The Australian marketplace sector is expanding and being disrupted with emerging platforms such as Temu and Shein gaining market share, with 25% and 21% of shoppers buying from them respectively, while established platforms like Catch and eBay underperformed in 2023.

Amazon has grown to become the dominant local marketplace and is projected to reach $5.5 billion turnover this financial year. Amazon now outperforms all other marketplaces on average monthly site visits, including eBay by a significant 48% over the last three months of 2023, to achieve an average of 75.2 million monthly site visits.

“New marketplace entrants into Australia, like Temu, are shaking up the sector and quickly attracting consumer interest. However, it’s expected that Amazon’s leading market position will only grow, as the platform wins shoppers with competitive prices, the widest product range and ease-of-use shopping via Prime,” Pattern Australia general manager, Merline McGregor said.

Amazon is also on track to achieve the highest growth rate of any marketplace in 2024, with 63% of Australians planning on buying from the site, up 6% year-on-year, compared to a projected 8% decrease among those planning to buy from eBay.

Despite the increased pressure on Australian consumers’ discretionary spending, research shows that shoppers will continue to buy online. The e-commerce market is projected to reach $64.14 billion this year, with the share of retail goods purchased online set to increase from 15.6% in 2023 to 17% by the end of 2024.

“With cost-of-living pressures and an uncertain economic outlook, many consumers will cut costs and evolve their shopping habits this year. For instance, shoppers are more likely to take advantage of major sales events, following a 20% growth in consumer participation in Black Friday/Cyber Monday in 2023,” McGregor added.

“Research also shows that shoppers are opting to visit retail stores for a hands-on evaluation of products. This trend suggests a more thorough pre-purchase assessment, evidenced by a notable 36% decrease in consumers intending to buy products online that can typically be found in-store.”