Australian e-commerce to top $30b this year

Australian e-commerce is on track to top $30 billion by the end of 2011, and continue to expand in the coming years, new research from PayPal Australia claims.

The sector will be worth $30.2 billion by the end of the year, expand by 12.3% in 2012, and hit $37.7 billion in 2013, the online payment company said.

Growth will be driven by the increasing adoption of technologies such as smartphones and QR codes

The report, jointly prepared with Forrseter Research, Nielsen and the Australian Centre For Retail Studies, states that 97% of Australian internet users have now shopped online.

While the Australian majors have been complaining about the effects of online commerce on their own sales, domestic retail still accounts for 73% of online consumption in Australia.

But nearly two thirds of consumers have shopped overseas at least once in the last year.

Smartphone adoption is influencing the way consumers shop online. PayPal Australia said mobile-initiated transactions served by the company are growing at a rate of 430% year-on-year.

“Smartphones are accelerating the path to purchase by becoming a virtual store in our pockets, enabling consumers and merchants to connect in new ways,” PayPal Australia managing director Frerk-Malte Feller said.