APPENDIX 1 EXPERIMENTAL ESTIMATES OF ONLINE RETAIL TURNOVER
INTRODUCTION
1 This appendix presents estimates of the value of 'online retail turnover' in Australia (i.e. turnover from domestic online retail sales) from July 2013 and onwards.
2 The estimates are compiled from the monthly Retail Business Survey. The scope, coverage and methodology of this survey are provided in the explanatory notes of this publication.
3 Monthly estimates are presented in current price terms. Original estimates only are available, with a view to publishing seasonally adjusted and trend estimates in the future.
4 The estimates in this appendix are considered experimental. They are subject to evaluation and should therefore be used with caution.
5 Further discussion on the scope of the Retail Business Survey and the enhanced measurement of online retail trade activity can be found in the information paper Measurement of Online Retail Trade in Macroeconomics(cat. no. 8501.0.55.007).
KEY STATISTICS
A1 ONLINE RETAIL TURNOVER, Australia, By Type of Activity |
|
 | | Pure-play Online Retail Trade | Multi-channel Online Retail Trade | Total Online Retail Trade |
| Month | $m | $m | $m |
ORIGINAL |
|
| 2014 | | | |
| April | 193.5 | 330.0 | 523.5 |
| May | 203.6 | 374.7 | 578.3 |
| June | 229.1 | 373.0 | 602.1 |
| July | 205.1 | 391.1 | 596.2 |
| August | 209.9 | 389.3 | 599.2 |
| September | 276.1 | 375.1 | 651.1 |
| October | 272.8 | 442.2 | 715.0 |
| November | 292.5 | 459.8 | 752.3 |
| December | 337.2 | 526.0 | 863.2 |
| 2015 | | | |
| January | 239.8 | 425.7 | 665.5 |
| February | 219.6 | 386.9 | 606.5 |
| March | 272.2 | 447.2 | 719.4 |
| April | 260.9 | 436.2 | 697.1 |
| May | 297.2 | 432.9 | 730.1 |
| June | 324.4 | 465.9 | 790.4 |
| July | 277.4 | 473.5 | 750.9 |
| August | 292.2 | 468.7 | 760.8 |
| September | 318.8 | 475.8 | 794.6 |
| October | 306.1 | 473.5 | 779.6 |
| November | 331.3 | 526.2 | 857.6 |
| December | 343.9 | 626.0 | 969.9 |
| 2016 | | | |
| January | 260.3 | 485.3 | 745.6 |
| February | 270.6 | 425.5 | 696.2 |
| March | 297.3 | 476.4 | 773.7 |
| April | 296.5 | 448.9 | 745.4 |
| May | 312.1 | 488.4 | 800.4 |
| June | 332.1 | 510.0 | 842.1 |
| July | 313.3 | 481.0 | 794.3 |
| August | 329.0 | 501.9 | 830.9 |
| September | 385.5 | 504.3 | 889.8 |
| October | 391.2 | 609.8 | 1 001.0 |
| November | 468.9 | 639.9 | 1 108.8 |
| December | 510.5 | 754.6 | 1 265.1 |
| 2017 | | | |
| January | 324.1 | 578.9 | 903.0 |
| February | 301.3 | 524.1 | 825.3 |
| March | 334.9 | 604.2 | 939.1 |
| April | 259.2 | 568.7 | 827.9 |
| May | 320.9 | 662.8 | 983.7 |
| June | 335.9 | 703.3 | 1 039.2 |
| July | 403.3 | 678.8 | 1 082.2 |
| August | 452.2 | 698.6 | 1 150.8 |
| September | 447.2 | 662.0 | 1 109.2 |
| October | 529.3 | 705.6 | 1 234.9 |
| November | 620.0 | 890.5 | 1 510.6 |
| December | 590.6 | 1 011.2 | 1 601.8 |
| 2018 | | | |
| January | 441.5 | 787.1 | 1 228.6 |
| February | 433.4 | 754.2 | 1 187.6 |
|
A2 ONLINE RETAIL TURNOVER, Australia, By Type of Activity - Percentage change from previous month |
|
| | Pure-play Online Retail Trade | Multi-channel Online Retail Trade | Total Online Retail Trade |
| Month | % | % | % |
ORIGINAL |
|
| 2014 | | | |
| April | 10.7 | -8.4 | -2.1 |
| May | 5.2 | 13.5 | 10.5 |
| June | 12.5 | -0.5 | 4.1 |
| July | -10.5 | 4.9 | -1.0 |
| August | 2.3 | -0.5 | 0.5 |
| September | 31.5 | -3.6 | 8.7 |
| October | -1.2 | 17.9 | 9.8 |
| November | 7.2 | 4.0 | 5.2 |
| December | 15.3 | 14.4 | 14.7 |
| 2015 | | | |
| January | -28.9 | -19.1 | -22.9 |
| February | -8.4 | -9.1 | -8.9 |
| March | 24.0 | 15.6 | 18.6 |
| April | -4.2 | -2.5 | -3.1 |
| May | 13.9 | -0.8 | 4.7 |
| June | 9.2 | 7.6 | 8.3 |
| July | -14.5 | 1.6 | -5.0 |
| August | 5.3 | -1.0 | 1.3 |
| September | 9.1 | 1.5 | 4.4 |
| October | -4.0 | -0.5 | -1.9 |
| November | 8.2 | 11.1 | 10.0 |
| December | 3.8 | 19.0 | 13.1 |
| 2016 | | | |
| January | -24.3 | -22.5 | -23.1 |
| February | 4.0 | -12.3 | -6.6 |
| March | 9.9 | 12.0 | 11.1 |
| April | -0.3 | -5.8 | -3.7 |
| May | 5.3 | 8.8 | 7.4 |
| June | 6.4 | 4.4 | 5.2 |
| July | -5.7 | -5.7 | -5.7 |
| August | 5.0 | 4.3 | 4.6 |
| September | 17.2 | 0.5 | 7.1 |
| October | 1.5 | 20.9 | 12.5 |
| November | 19.9 | 4.9 | 10.8 |
| December | 8.9 | 17.9 | 14.1 |
| 2017 | | | |
| January | -36.5 | -23.3 | -28.6 |
| February | -7.1 | -9.5 | -8.6 |
| March | 11.2 | 15.3 | 13.8 |
| April | -22.6 | -5.9 | -11.8 |
| May | 23.8 | 16.5 | 18.8 |
| June | 4.7 | 6.1 | 5.6 |
| July | 20.1 | -3.5 | 4.1 |
| August | 12.1 | 2.9 | 6.3 |
| September | -1.1 | -5.2 | -3.6 |
| October | 18.4 | 6.6 | 11.3 |
| November | 17.1 | 26.2 | 22.3 |
| December | -4.7 | 13.5 | 6.0 |
| 2018 | | | |
| January | -22.5 | -22.2 | -22.3 |
| February | -1.8 | -4.2 | -3.3 |
|
A3 ONLINE RETAIL TURNOVER, Australia, By Type of Activity - Percentage of Total Australian Retail Turnover |
|
| | Pure-play Online Retail Trade | Multi-channel Online Retail Trade | Total Online Retail Trade |
| Month | % | % | % |
ORIGINAL |
|
| 2014 | | | |
| April | 0.9 | 1.5 | 2.4 |
| May | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
| June | 1.0 | 1.7 | 2.7 |
| July | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
| August | 0.9 | 1.7 | 2.6 |
| September | 1.2 | 1.6 | 2.8 |
| October | 1.1 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
| November | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.0 |
| December | 1.1 | 1.7 | 2.8 |
| 2015 | | | |
| January | 1.0 | 1.8 | 2.8 |
| February | 1.0 | 1.8 | 2.9 |
| March | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| April | 1.1 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| May | 1.3 | 1.8 | 3.1 |
| June | 1.4 | 2.0 | 3.4 |
| July | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.1 |
| August | 1.2 | 2.0 | 3.2 |
| September | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
| October | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| November | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
| December | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| 2016 | | | |
| January | 1.1 | 2.0 | 3.0 |
| February | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| March | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.2 |
| April | 1.2 | 1.9 | 3.1 |
| May | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.3 |
| June | 1.4 | 2.1 | 3.5 |
| July | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.2 |
| August | 1.3 | 2.0 | 3.4 |
| September | 1.5 | 2.0 | 3.6 |
| October | 1.5 | 2.3 | 3.9 |
| November | 1.8 | 2.4 | 4.1 |
| December | 1.5 | 2.3 | 3.8 |
| 2017 | | | |
| January | 1.3 | 2.3 | 3.6 |
| February | 1.3 | 2.3 | 3.6 |
| March | 1.3 | 2.4 | 3.7 |
| April | 1.1 | 2.3 | 3.4 |
| May | 1.3 | 2.6 | 3.9 |
| June | 1.3 | 2.8 | 4.1 |
| July | 1.6 | 2.7 | 4.3 |
| August | 1.8 | 2.8 | 4.6 |
| September | 1.8 | 2.6 | 4.4 |
| October | 2.0 | 2.7 | 4.7 |
| November | 2.2 | 3.2 | 5.5 |
| December | 1.8 | 3.0 | 4.8 |
| 2018 | | | |
| January | 1.7 | 3.0 | 4.7 |
| February | 1.9 | 3.2 | 5.1 |
|
DEFINITION OF ONLINE RETAIL TURNOVER
6 For the purposes of this publication, 'online retail turnover' is the value of turnover of 'retail trade' which is derived from 'online sales'. 'Retail trade' includes those industries defined in paragraphs 5 and 6 of the explanatory notes of this publication. 'Online sales' are defined as sales of goods and/or services where the order is placed by the buyer via the Internet or any other computer network, regardless of whether payment is made online or not.
CLASSIFICATION
7 The estimates are disaggregated between "pure-play" and "multi-channel" online retail trade activity. Pure-play online retail trade includes only the online sales of sole e-commerce retailers (i.e. retailers that trade with consumers solely via an online store and have no physical store). All other online sales are included in Multi-channel online retail trade, comprised of retailers which combine an online store with a physical store and/or other non-traditional means such as catalogues, mail-order and/or telephone-order.
SCOPE AND COVERAGE
8 The estimates of online retail turnover are compiled from the monthly Retail Business Survey. The scope of this survey includes all employing businesses within Australia from selected retail trade and food services industries which predominately sell to households.
9 The online retail sales of both store based and non-store based retailers, including pure-play online retailers, will be included in this scope. However, online sales by non-employing businesses and non-resident retailers overseas which sell directly to the Australian general public via an online store are not included, nor are they within the primary purpose or scope of the Retail Business Survey.
10 The survey also excludes online retail sales from businesses with a non-retail industry classification, such as businesses which sell predominantly to other businesses (which are predominantly wholesalers) and businesses which produce goods for direct selling to consumers from the same premises (which are predominantly manufacturers).
11 The methodology used to derive the estimates of online retail turnover is also based on the same sample design and generalised estimation methodology which is used for the Retail Business Survey.
ONGOING INVESTIGATIONS AND UPCOMING CHANGES
12 Further enhancements to improve the coverage and presentation of estimates of online retail turnover are the subject of ongoing investigation by the ABS. These include (but are not limited to) potential enhancements to the methodology of the Retail Business Survey which would optimise the survey design for estimating both online and total retail turnover, rather than the current design which is optimised for estimating total retail turnover only.
13 Changes to the presentation of the estimates are planned for future issues of Retail Trade. Future issues are expected to include:
- Estimates of the sampling variability associated with the new estimates of online retail turnover;
- Spreadsheets including the new estimates, available from the Downloads tab of this publication on the ABS website; and
- Discussion on the potential disaggregation of the new estimates by state and territory, and conceptual issues associated with disaggregating online retail turnover by location of business and/or consumer.
SUGGESTIONS AND FEEDBACK
14 As part of our ongoing investigations, we are currently seeking user feedback and suggestions about the presentation of the experimental time series in this publication and the upcoming changes planned for future issues. In particular, comment is sought on the usefulness of the proposed industry disaggregation.
15 If you have any feedback or suggestions please contact Ben Faulkner by email at ben.faulkner@abs.gov.au or by phone on Sydney (02) 9268 4052.
RELATED PUBLICATIONS
16 As well as the statistics included in this and related publications, the ABS may have other relevant data available. Inquiries should be made to the National Information and Referral Service on 1300 135 070.
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