5 Reasons why Online Shopping is surging in Australia during COVID-19

It may be common knowledge now that online shopping has been surging since the start of the global pandemic and Australia is certainly no exception.

Many online stores are seeing unprecedented demand for people buying anything and everything online to practice social distancing and to avoid going into the shops and having to interact with others. According to Jane Cohen; a partner at KPMG, while brick and mortar retail stores are struggling, the online retail sector is booming and emphasises that a second wave of the coronavirus (COVID-19) will likely continue this trend.

Let's take a look at why there has been a massive shift in Australian's shopping habits.

1. Safety

Until there is a commonly available vaccine available, the Australian Government Department of Health recommends that social or physical distancing, good hygiene, and not attending public gatherings are the best ways to reduce your chances of contracting COVID-19.

But what are some issues with this as we know many people have started developing cabin fever and either would like to get outside for exercise and their mental health or have to for essential reasons like shopping or work. One of the primary causes of concern is that the virus can be spread without the carrier showing any symptoms and many people do not adhere to social distancing rules in public. This means that you are kind of relying on others to be responsible with their actions, assuming they even are aware that they have been infected.

Many reputable sources such as the Australian Government, World Health Organisation and Australia Post confirm that the risk of transmission from mail and parcels is currently extremely low.

Even so, we follow industry best practices in our fulfillment centre to ensure the upmost levels of safety for our customers and staff. This includes the implementation and enforcement of social distancing for our staff, regular hand washing and sanitising, and the use of disposable gloves and masks when handling goods.

2. Speed and convenience of express shipping

We know how frustrating it can be to order something you've been wanting and taking weeks to get it delivered to your door. We've all been there when buying something with a price that looked a little bit too good to be true and realised it was being shipped from overseas and took close to a month to get to Australia. That's why sometimes we'll choose to just pop in to a retail store and pick it up quickly and leave.

But many companies are realising that online consumers buying products online generally would like to get the item delivered to their door as soon as possible. Some of the key offerings in Australia that improve the delivery experience includes Amazon's offering Amazon Prime and eBay's eBay Plus Membership. 

We also offer an Express Postage option for a marginal upgrade cost for all orders. For example, for Sydney metro postcodes, it is just $4 to upgrade your whole order to the speedy Express Shipping option. Now that's fast AND affordable!

Check out the estimated delivery times when ordering online with us below.

Standard Delivery:

METRO AREAS (SYDNEY, BRISBANE, MELBOURNE, ADELAIDE, CANBERRA)

2 - 3 business days

WA, TAS & REST OF AUSTRALIA

5 - 7 business days

Express Delivery:

METRO AREAS (SYDNEY, BRISBANE, MELBOURNE, ADELAIDE, CANBERRA)

1 - 2 business days

WA, TAS & REST OF AUSTRALIA

3 - 4 business days

3. Australia Post actually delivering to your door

I'm sure anyone who has lived in Australia has had the painful experience of buying something online and being 'carded' by Australia Post and the host of other couriers, like Fastway and Couriers Please. As an online retailer and a frequent purchaser of things online, this frustrates us to no end as it defeats the purpose of buying online in the first place as we are all time-poor.

Reputable sources suggest that Australia Post and some other courier networks have been actively encouraging their delivery drivers to complete the last-mile delivery of actually handing the package over to the customer as opposed to diverting the package to the nearest post office. This might be because a huge number of the workforce is now working from home so the delivery drivers have a high probability of being able to complete the delivery the first time around.

Anecdotally, our own purchases online and some feedback we have received from our customers shows that their orders are getting delivered to their doors a lot more frequently than pre-COVID, sometimes even on weekends. This could have something to do with the fact that Australia Post is now operating their processing centres 7 days a week. Even apartment or unit-dwellers in our major cities like Sydney and Melbourne have reported an increase in the percentage of successful first-time deliveries with Australia Post and couriers.

4. Sale events

Many retailers that have both a physical retail and online offering have struggled to maintain revenues during the pandemic and have started to run short-term discounting to reverse this issue.

If you do a little digging online, there should be a plethora of sales promotions running for some online retailers.

While we are a purely online-only store, we are running a limited 10% promotion for new customers on our website and are often featured in eBay's exclusive monthly 20% sale events as well if you prefer to use eBay.

You can also use our live chat function (available 7 days a week) to start a conversation with our friendly support team to learn more about these promotions or current deals.

5. Free shipping

Getting all hyped up about finding something you need online and only to get hit by a shipping fee is a huge bummer and is one of the biggest pain points for shoppers buying online. More often than not, buyers will hesitate to complete the purchase when met with expensive shipping fees and other hidden surcharges that is common in the industry. 

This is why we made a choice when opening our online store in 2013 to ensure that we maintain a 100% transparent pricing policy. This means that all products have free shipping to Australian customers, without any minimum spend required. There is also no hidden charges or fees during checkout, so the price you see on the product page is the price you pay.

For more of the latest and greatest product and exclusive discount and promotion announcements, why not follow us on social media and our blog.

We would also love to hear what you think. Just leave a comment below and we would love to start a conversation.