Drop for online sales

Online spending in August remained strong, despite being lower then last year, according to the NAB online retail sales index.

The index found an increase of 22 per cent of online spending year on year in August, while growth in August 2011 was marginally stronger, at 28 per cent year on year.

This year’s level was slightly softer than in July (25 per cent), but stronger than the period from March to June this year. The report also found consumers spent a total of $11.9 billion in online retail sales.

This figure is equivalent to 5.4 per cent of traditional bricks & mortar retail spending (excluding cafés, restaurants and takeaway food) for the year ended July 2012.

Growth for online sales remains considerably stronger than traditional bricks & mortar retail, with traditional sales slowed in July down to 1.6 per cent year on year (non seasonally adjusted), compared with 4.9 per cent in June.

The slowdown was not particularly significant after seasonal adjustment (down from 4.6 per cent to 3.8 per cent).

The Index moved higher to 210 points in August 2012, up from 200points in July. Recent months have also seen a lower level of volatility in month to month movements.

The growth in online retail has influenced other sectors, most notably transport, according to a recent article around 70 per cent of parcels Australia Post delivers are generated by online transactions.

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