A record 9.3 million Australian households made online purchases in the year to March according to data released by Australia Post.

The postal service said online spending increased by 12 per cent year on year and in the six months from July to December 2021, an average of 5.6 million households purchased online each month.

The dominant categories were pet foods (38 per cent), tools and garden supplies (29 per cent) discount items (32 per cent) athleisure (17 per cent) and baby products (18 per cent).

One in three purchases were directed to NSW, which recorded the highest participation among states, growing by 27 per cent year-on-year. 

Australia Post’s head of e-commerce analytics, Rose Yip, said the growth in online shopping has accelerated “beyond expectations”.

“We’ve seen more than 900 million parcels delivered in the past three years alone, which says so much about how quickly e-commerce has grown in a short amount of time.

“It’s now the norm for so many Australians, with more than 5 million households regularly shopping online every month, which is why we’ve not only increased our network capacity but we’re investing in more new facilities, technology and our fleet to set up a strong and sustainable network for the future.”