More than half (51%) of Australian consumers are shopping online earlier for Christmas gifts in 2021 than in previous years, with almost three quarters (71%) starting before December and only 2% planning to start shopping on Christmas Eve or Christmas Day, according to the recently released 2021 Christmas Shopping Survey by leading enterprise marketplace platform, Mirakl.

In Australia, survey respondents reported a surge in online Christmas shopping over the last two years, with those reporting their Christmas shopping being done online nearly doubling from 2019 to 2021.

In 2019, Australia had the least amount of Christmas shopping being done online globally at 24%, but for 2021 that number has almost doubled to 42%. Although the biggest jump in Christmas online shopping for Australians occurred between 2019 and 2020 in the first year of the pandemic, in 2021 online Christmas shopping has continued to increase.

“Amid a backdrop of supply chain disruptions and unpredictable product availability, global consumers are starting their Christmas shopping earlier than ever before and using online shopping to avoid disappointment,” Mirakl co-founder and co-CEO, Adrien Nussenbaum said.

“The data from our survey offers proof that many of the temporary behavioral changes originally brought on by the global pandemic are becoming permanent. In particular, shoppers are increasing their use of online marketplaces to help reduce costs and ensure gifts arrive on time, with marketplaces seeing the greatest gains among coveted frequent shoppers.

“It’s especially interesting to see the incredible surge in online Christmas shopping in Australia, with the number of Australians doing their Christmas shopping online almost doubling since 2019. We found that Australians are starting and finishing Christmas shopping earlier than almost any other country, which likely shows the impact the last 18 months has had on shopping behaviour.”

More than seven in 10 Australians are open to doing some Christmas shopping on online marketplaces this year. Those who plan to shop on online marketplaces reported that the main driver of using an online marketplace for this shopping is the ability to offer better prices than traditional ecommerce (57%).

This is consistent with global results – with nearly two thirds (60%) of shoppers across the globe citing better prices as a reason why they’re using online marketplaces this Christmas season. Nearly all respondents (94%) say they plan to maintain (or increase) their frequency of shopping on online marketplaces.