It’s no surprise that online shopping became the norm in 2020. Social distancing and imposed restrictions meant people weren’t visiting bricks and mortar store fronts as often or at all.

Australia Post released its Online Shopping eCommerce report for 2020 which outlined the trends and growth online shopping experienced this year.

2020 saw a big boost in e-Commerce with more people shopping online than ever before. Australia Post forecasted that 12% of consumer spending would be conducted online by 2021 but Covid-19 saw online spending hit 12% in March 2020. Online spending in April was up 31% when compared to the 2019 average. Furthermore, spending was up 80% year on year in the eight weeks following WHO declaring Covid-19 a pandemic.

Here are some stats:

- 5.2 million households shopped online in April 2020

- More than 200,000 new shoppers ventured into online shopping, over a third of these new shoppers purchased online more than once

- 52.6% of regular online shoppers increased their shopping by three or more times

- Ordinarily most online shopping takes place in the evening, since April online shopping has been occurring consistently throughout the day

- Given people are commuting less, purchasing on smartphones has decreased and purchases on desktops or laptops has increased

- The number of online purchases in August 2020 was higher than 2019’s pre-Christmas peak

Online Shopping Growth by State

Each state and territory experienced year on year growth. With strict restrictions in place from April through to early May and then even stricter lockdowns from July through to October, it’s no surprise that Victoria led the way in online shopping growth year on year.

This chart depicts each state’s growth. (Image courtesy of Australia Post.

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What were people buying?

Initially, people were buying essential items given that uncertainty had led to panic buying of groceries, pharmaceuticals, hygiene items, toilet paper and alcohol. Once restriction guidelines became clearer and everyone began to understand what could and couldn’t be obtained easily, there was a more measured approach to buying essential items.

Once things began to settle and everyone got used to being at home, online purchasing transitioned to entertainment, self-improvement, DIY, comfortable and casual clothing and gifts for loved ones.

It will be interesting to see if these online shopping growth trends continue as we move into a less restricted Covid normal. Have you increased your online shopping habits?

As a member of many business networking groups, I hear many stories of how Covid-19 has affected people and businesses.

Of course, we all know of the industries that have suffered greatly during this time in particular hospitality and travel. Not to mention there has been great concerns for the mental health of individuals.

Interestingly and not surprising, the perception of the effects of Covid on businesses and individuals has differed among various groups.

In general, Covid-19 hasn’t been great for the economy with many businesses forced to close indefinitely due to lockdowns or closing down altogether as they haven’t been able to weather the economic impacts of the virus.

So, how about the effects on individuals? There’s no question that individuals, both male and female have been impacted. So, I was surprised to hear from a member of one of my networking groups that she had been approached by someone wanting to write an article for her about how Covid-19 has impacted women in business more than men. She even gave it a term which I won’t even bother repeating.

My self and quite a few members of the group had a problem with this. First and foremost, everyone has been impacted by Covid-19, men and women. I’ll admit there are probably more women than men that have had to juggle their work with their children’s home learning so that does add a bit more of a strain. But to imply that women are impacted more in an employment or financial capacity than men seems a little sexist and just not right. Job losses or financial insecurity, in my opinion haven’t discriminated.

The other issue quite a few of us had with this type of article, was the negativity towards females. For so long, women have wanted to be thought of as equal to men and all of a sudden, this article was going to paint a picture of women as the poor victims of a pandemic. It was my opinion, and many agreed that we should be supporting each other and promoting positivity.

On the upside, a lot of the members of this particular networking group are females and self-employed. A majority have actually reported they have never been busier.

During these times, some have had it tougher than others but I don’t think you can draw a line between the genders and pronounce one worse off than the other. We’re all in this together.