By Andy Young
Following on from a 14 per cent increase in total online shopping in the 12 months to 31 March 2015, retailers are expecting a 20 per cent increase in online sales, according to the inaugural CommBank Retail Insights report.
The report combines in-depth research from over 500 retailers in Australia with the analysis of around $3 billion of transaction data from CommBank credit cards.
The report also highlighted that many retailers expect the proportion of sales conducted through mobile devices to double over the next 12 months; the food and liquor sector though, has one of the lowest rates of mobile sales.
Jerry Macey, national manager, retail industry, Commonwealth Bank said the research shows the time is ripe for retailers to capitalise on changing consumer preferences for online purchasing.
"The shift to online shopping is supporting confidence in the retail sector. Retailers are responding by maintaining or boosting investment in technology and introducing new digital channels to capture substantial expected sales growth."
The report says that food and liquor remains a largely bricks and mortar business, with more than 40 per cent of retailers yet to sell online. But in a possible warning to those businesses, food and liquor retailers said that they expect online will represent 31 per cent of their sales by 2020.
The report also asked food and liquor retailers to forecast their business conditions over the next 12 months; 37 per cent they expect business conditions will improve, 23 per cent said they would stay the same and 20 per cent said they would decline.