Aussie eCommerce rebounds in time for peak sales season with international sales surge: Airwallex
Just one month out from Christmas, eCommerce retailers are witnessing signals of renewed consumer confidence as international sales drive spending growth, according to the latest Digital Economy Index by Airwallex.
After a rocky start to 2024, with Q1 online sales down 36.7 percent year-over-year, Q3 data reveals a significant turnaround, with online spending up 16.4 percent YoY.
Australian eCommerce businesses are experiencing an impressive 80.1 percent growth in international sales, highlighting a considerable shift toward overseas markets amid a challenging economic climate.
Airwallex Head of Enterprise ANZ, Huw Griffiths, sees this as a strategic pivot by Australian businesses. “More Australian businesses are using this as an opportunity to drive and accelerate growth by enabling their products and services through cross-border channels,” Griffiths said. “Going global has never been easier for ambitious Aussie businesses – no matter how new or small.”
Regional highlights from the Index include:
- Western Australia businesses lead the nation with a staggering 272.5 percent YoY increase in online spending
- This is followed by Victorian (20.9 percent) and New South Wales (12.1 percent) businesses
- Queensland businesses experienced a decline in online spending in Q3 compared to the same period last year, down 35.4 percent YoY
- The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) supports these findings, reporting a 12.09 percent YoY increase in online retail sales from Q3 2023 to Q3 2024, while the Consumer Price Index (CPI) has risen modestly at 2.8 percent over the last 12 months.
The analysis also found that business deposit volume (which includes sales revenue and other deposits) for retail and eCommerce businesses had grown a healthy 22.35 percent YoY. In August, Airwallex announced it had passed USD$100 billion in annualised transaction volume for the first time, reflecting the breadth and depth of digital business growth.
Griffiths advises businesses to optimise their online presence and cross-border capabilities as holiday season momentum builds. “Australia’s eCommerce landscape is poised to thrive in Q4, so now is the time for businesses to leverage strong digital strategies to capture increased consumer demand, both domestically and internationally,” he said.
Read more about the Airwallex Digital Economy Index (Q3, 2024) here.
