In financial year 2024, the total e-commerce sales of the Woolworths Group came to around 7.96 billion Australian dollars, with sales up from the previous year. Over the given period, online sales witnessed year-on-year growth.

In 2015, the retail e-commerce share of all retail sales in Australia was 5.9 percent. By 2019, this share was forecasted to increase to 7.2 percent. In 2018, the digital buyer penetration was forecasted to reach 81 percent, continuing a year-on-year increase from 2013. Consumers aged between 25 to 34 are the most active in the e-commerce market in the country.

E-commerce market

The net e-commerce sales of Woolworths topped the online B2C market in Australia in 2018. Coles, another Australian supermarket chain, trailed behind with the second highest online sales. Both Coles and Woolworth shoppers were equally willing to buy groceries online in this year. In terms of the electronics and media segment, Apple led the pack with net online sales amounting to almost 380 million U.S. dollars.

Market growth

In 2017, domestic media retailers experienced the largest growth, over 50 percent, for retail e-commerce sales in Australia. The number of Amazon sellers in Australia had increased over four-fold from the beginning of 2018 to August of the same year. For international retailers, department stores had the highest online sales growth. Online stores such as ASOS and The Iconic dominated the fashion segment in Australia in 2018, and look set to continue their growth in the future.

The two largest and oldest supermarket chains in Australia had the largest customer penetration during 2019; Woolworths Group stores had a penetration of 7.2 million households, and Coles Group stores had a penetration of 6.34 million households. German chain Aldi, a relative newcomer to Australia, had a penetration of 4.19 million households in the same year.

 Yearly grocery spend and the wider industry  

The Woolworths Group took the largest share of the total grocery spend in Australia in 2019; taking 34 billion Australian dollars, compared to Coles Group, who took 27.4 billion. The third largest share went to Aldi, who took a share of 12.08 billion Australian dollars.

Looking at the industry from a wider perspective, retail sales have seen a growth of around two million Australian dollars year on year, reaching just under 90 million Australian dollars in 2018. Moreover, grocery industry turnover has followed a similar growth pattern. Over a ten-year period from 2008 to 2018, turnover increased from 72.44 billion Australian dollars to 109.15 billion Australian dollars.

 The online grocery market  

Of the biggest three supermarket chains, it seems more and more shoppers are turning to the internet to order their groceries. In 2018, 34 percent of both Coles and Woolworths customers said they were prepared to buy their shop online, as well as 26 percent of Aldi customers. The biggest influence on this decision was the promise of no delivery charges; in 2019, around 61 percent of shoppers said they would buy online if free shipping was available.

In 2019, 20.79 percent of consumers who had purchased shopping online cited convenience as the biggest reason they had used the internet for their shop. Time saving was also a popular reason, with 12.64 percent of respondents giving this as a reason.

A survey conducted in the 12 months to July 2024 revealed that the most prevalent online retailer among Australian online shoppers was American-based marketplace Amazon, with around 54 percent of respondents reportedly purchasing from this shopping site in the past 12 months. eBay followed at 41 percent of surveyed online consumers. Online marketplaces in Australia Marketplaces in Australia have become increasingly popular in recent years. Australian customers have been attracted to these e-commerce platforms by a wide range of products, convenience of use, and affordable prices. The dominance of global marketplaces, such as Amazon, is evident. With an average of 58.3 million site visits per month as of February 2023, Amazon was the most popular online retailer in Australia, followed by eBay, with an average of 57.6 million monthly visitors. However, it is worth noting that local Australian retailers have also made their mark, with Kmart, Woolworths, and Big W gaining popularity among online shoppers. The continued growth of the e-commerce industry and consumer preference for convenient and diverse shopping options help marketplaces remain a vital component of the Australian retail market. Online retail industry trends The COVID-19 pandemic led to extensive limitations to in-store shopping in Australia in 2020 and 2021. As a result, the e-commerce market experienced a significant increase during this period, with an e-commerce growth rate of about 32 percent. In 2022, market growth slowed. Nonetheless, there were still observable, long-lasting changes to consumer behavior, as evidenced by the considerable number of customers who now actively engage in online buying activities. According to a July 2024 survey, around 29 percent of Australians made at least one online purchase per week, while 83 percent of internet shoppers made an online purchase at least once per month. As the market develops, it is expected that both domestic and foreign retailers will compete for a larger share of the expanding online retail market in Australia.

Supermarkets and grocery store outcomes have been a tale of dealing with volatile prices at their purchase and sales points. The continued expansion of Aldi and Amazon has forced the two established industry giants, Woolworths and Coles, to remain price-competitive on both the physical store and online service fronts. To differentiate themselves from low-cost supermarkets, Coles and Woolworths have leant into attracting customers with convenient locations and expanded online shopping capabilities. These supermarket giants also rely on loyalty programs and promotions. Coles and Woolworths have displayed interest in data analytics, strengthening their relationships with analytics firms like Palantir to optimise their marketing and operational processes. The ACCC and Treasury have taken the lead on addressing supplier and customer concerns relating to deceptive discounting practices and supplier contract bargaining exploitation. Supermarket and grocer revenue rose significantly following the COVID-19 outbreak. Household expenditure shifted towards retail industries amid restrictions on many services industries, with this imbalance remaining as high costs limit eating out. A combination of panic buying, along with the suspension of many specials and promotions in supermarkets, boosted grocery turnover at the beginning of the period, spiking revenue for 2019-20. This high benchmark at the start of the period has resulted in an industry correction and an annualised revenue decline of 0.6% to $148.7 billion over the five years to 2024-25. However, stores have largely managed to pass on upstream costs to customers, steadying their profit margins while suppliers and consumers bear the brunt of inflation-driven costs. Revenue is estimated to climb by 0.2% in 2024-25, reflecting the price-driven industry growth more indicative of the overall revenue trend that was drowned out by the pandemic revenue spike and correction. Supermarkets and grocery stores are set to continue performing well with industry revenue slated to climb at an annualised 0.4% over the five years through 2029-30 to $142.8 billion. Population growth and stubborn inflationary pressures, despite rate hikes, are set to keep store prices inching upwards. The results of the Treasury and the ACCC's investigations will shine a light on new regulations and potential penalties in store for large supermarkets. Eventually, when inflationary pressures subside and consumer sentiment returns to a positive level, supermarkets and grocers will be well-positioned to take advantage of consumer appetite for value-added and premium goods. Strong growth in online sales is set to continue.

Australia's online shopping landscape witnessed significant growth in the online marketplaces segment in 2024, with a notable increase of over 22 percent compared to the previous year. Additionally, the books, stationery, and multimedia segment showed an increase of almost 19.5 percent. Across all other categories, online sales increased. Maintaining momentum in Australia’s e-commerce market Since 2021, Australia’s online retail market has been gradually expanding, accelerated by restrictions to in-store shopping throughout the pandemic. Now, the industry is tasked with maintaining online spending momentum through harnessing technologies including artificial intelligence (AI) to foster consumer engagement through marketing techniques such as social media advertising. In 2024, total online spending on goods in Australia reached almost 69 billion Australian dollars. The online marketplaces category emerged as the leading segment for online spending in Australia, accounting for around 23 percent of online expenditure that year.
Is Australia’s online marketplace landscape becoming more competitive? From global marketplaces such as Amazon to local Australian retailers including Kmart and supermarket giants, Coles and Woolworths, Australia’s online retail market offers diverse shopping options. In particular, online marketplaces have been a key contributor to the country’s e-commerce market expansion owing to their extensive product ranges, largely lower prices, and convenient shopping experiences. With a climbing number of site visits, Amazon emerged as the most popular online retailer or marketplace in Australia in 2024, followed closely by eBay and Kmart. Nonetheless, new market entrant Temu, which entered the Australian market in early 2023, has been causing a stir due to its heavily discounted goods. The Chinese e-commerce platform has been attracting an average of 1.66 million Australian shoppers per month, according to a survey conducted in June 2024.

According to a 2019 survey carried out by ProdegeMR about the factors that would persuade consumers to shop for groceries online, around 61 percent of respondents said they would shop online if shipping was free. Elsewhere, around 17 percent also said they would shop online if it could be guaranteed that fruit and vegetables were fresh.

 Online grocery shopping in Australia  

There are a wide variety of reasons why consumers may prefer to do their grocery shopping online. In a 2019 survey into these reasons, the two biggest reasons given were the convenience of buying groceries online and time savings, with 20.79 percent and 12.64 percent of respondents citing these reasons.

For the largest Australian supermarkets, Coles, Woolworths, and Aldi, their customers are turning to the internet to order their shopping. In 2018, 34 percent of Woolworths customers, as well as the same share of Coles customers, said they would consider shopping online. For Aldi shoppers, the figure was slightly lower at 26 percent of the company’s customers.

 The wider Australian supermarket industry  

In terms of total grocery spend, the Woolworths Group took a share of 34 billion Australian dollars, Coles Group took 27.4 billion, and Aldi took 12.8 billion Australian dollars.

Moreover, there has been a steady growth in retail turnover over the last ten years, increasing exponentially from 72.44 billion Australian dollars in 2008 to around 109 billion Australian dollars in 2018. Retail spending has seen similar growth patterns and was at 90 million Australian dollars in the same year.

In December 2024, the monthly online retail revenue generated in Australia amounted to just over 4.4 billion Australian dollars. This surpassed the previous peak of around 4.37 billion Australian dollars in online retail revenue recorded in September 2021. Online retailing in Australia To draw customers back into physical stores after the COVID-19 pandemic, Australian retailers are placing a strong emphasis on creating seamless shopping experiences that combine online and in-store channels. Nevertheless, online shopping remains a crucial element of the retail sector in Australia. In September 2024, Australia's online retail spending increased for both domestic and international merchants across all categories when compared to the previous year. Several Australian households made weekly online purchases, indicating the rising reliance on e-commerce in daily life. According to around 68 percent of Australian participants in a 2024 survey, convenience was the primary reason for their online purchases. Australia’s leading e-commerce platforms The e-commerce market in Australia is shaped by both global giants and well-known local companies that cater to a wide variety of customer needs. In the year preceding July 2024, a survey revealed that Australian customers' preferred online retailer or marketplace was the US-based marketplace Amazon, from which around 54 percent of participants had made purchases. Australian retailers Kmart and Woolworths came in joint third, drawing in 40 percent of online buyers, respectively. In 2023, Woolworths.com.au was the leading online store in Australia, with e-commerce net sales of around 3.5 billion dollars, underscoring its dominance in the online grocery market. The Chinese fast-fashion giant Shein.com ranked third, with revenue surpassing 1.4 billion U.S. dollars.

In 2015, the value of online grocery shopping sales in Australia amounted to two billion U.S. dollars. This value was forecasted to more than double by 2020; driven by consumer preference changes and the ever-increasing digitization of the country. While the majority of online spending by Australian consumers was attributed to homeware products, online grocery shopping still ranked among the top three categories in 2017.

Why are Australians buying online?

When considering the frequency of online grocery purchasing, almost 14 percent of consumers stated that they bought online once per month. Convenience and time saving factors were the main reasons for Australians to purchase groceries online. In a recent survey, free shipping was by far the most persuasive aspect pushing Australians towards buying their groceries and food on the internet. As a consequence of changing consumer habits, the supermarket and grocery store industry in Australia has experienced rapid change over the past few years.

The evolving marketplace

Industry giants, such as Woolworths and Coles, have expanded their online efforts in order to remain competitive. In early 2019, Coles committed to building two new highly automated fulfilment centers based in Sydney and Melbourne. Woolworths has also recently entered into a partnership with Takeoff Technologies, a U.S. based start-up, to build smaller, micro fulfilment centers across Australia. Consumer demand has undeniably driven heavy investment into these companies’ respective internet-based delivery and fulfilment goals.

In Australia as of July 2020, 91 percent of Woolworths and Coles in-store and online customers were "cross-shoppers", meaning that they shopped at both stores. In comparison, only 22 percent of Woolworths and Coles online-only shoppers patronized both stores.

Grocery retail spending in Australia during 2019 was dominated by two home grown retail companies; Woolworths Group and Coles Group, both of whom recognized consumer spending of around 30 billion Australian dollars apiece. The retailer who took the third highest share of retail spending was German company Aldi, a relative newcomer to the Aussie retail market.

The wider retail industry picture

In 2018, Australian supermarkets recognized total sales revenue of just under 90 million Australian dollars, an increase from the previous financial year, and a continuation of a year on year increase in revenues. In the same year, supermarket and grocery industry turnover was around 109 billion Australian dollars; and again this represents an increase from the previous financial year and a continued year on year upward trend.

Customer penetration and the online grocery market

The two largest domestic supermarket chains, Woolworths and Coles, had customer penetration of 7.2 million and 6.34 million households respectively in 2019. Aldi was the largest non-Australian retailer in terms of customer penetration, reaching 4.19 million households in the same year.

Customers are increasingly buying groceries online, particularly as a result of the 2020 coronavirus outbreak. Purchases of pasta increased by 76 percent, egg buying by 72 percent and canned meals by 71 percent. In line with international panic buying as a result of the pandemic, Australians also bought just over 50 percent more toilet roll as part of their online grocery shopping.

In financial year 2022, the Endeavour Group accounted for over 45 percent of Australia's online alcohol retail market. Competitor, the Coles Group, followed with a market share of just over 16 percent. The Endeavour Group is an alcoholic drinks retailer founded by Australian grocery retail giant Woolworths, which owns retail stores under the Dan Murphy's and BWS brands across Australia.

Australian conglomerate, Wesfarmers Limited, saw its Bunnings division lead revenue generation in the 2024 financial year, contributing over 18.9 billion Australian dollars to the company’s total annual revenue. Bunnings Group is an Australian household hardware chain owned by Wesfarmers since the early 1990s. While Bunnings remains the standout performer for Wesfarmers, other divisions also contribute significantly to the company's success. The Kmart Group was the second-largest revenue producer in 2024, bringing in around 11 billion Australian dollars. The acquisition of Australian Pharmaceutical Industries (API) in March 2022 has also added another dimension to Wesfarmers' portfolio. Bunnings: Australia’s standout DIY and hardware retailer Bunnings’ strong financial performance is supported by its expanding retail network. In the 2024 financial year, Bunnings Group operated around 513 retail locations, a significant increase from just over 375 in 2020. This growth in physical presence and performance cements Bunnings’ dominant position in the Australian DIY and home improvement landscape, where it commands a share of over two-thirds of the country’s DIY market, far outpacing its closest competitor, National Building. Not only is Bunnings domestically influential, but it also sits among the top ten DIY retail stores by net revenue worldwide. Kmart: one of Australia’s top department store chains Over the past few years, following a dip in revenue in 2022, the Kmart Group has repositioned itself strategically to stay relevant, boosting its thriving Anko brand, which was introduced in 2019, as well as creating duplicates of popular items at lower prices. The retail department store chain is a well-known name in Australia, with over 445 Kmart Group locations across Australia and New Zealand, including Kmart, K hub, and Target. Beaten by only Amazon and eBay, the chain sits among the top three online retailers and marketplaces purchased from by online shoppers in Australia in 2024, tying with grocery retail giant Woolworths.