Australia’s consumer eCommerce market is lagging behind both the US and UK markets by approximately three years, according to a eCommerce analysis issued by consulting company, Frost & Sullivan.
The report said that the online retail consumer spending in Australia in 2010 is expected to account for approximately 5% of total retail sales. Moreover, if spending on overseas sites is excluded, the online retail consumer spending drops to approximately 3%.
While, online retail consumer spending as a percentage of total retail spend (domestic only) is above 5% in both the US and UK.
The consulting company said that the total consumer eCommerce expenditure in the 2010, excluding online services such online ticketing and events, travel, music downloads and financial services, is forecast to reach AUD12bn, which is slightly behind the US and UK markets.
However, expenditure is projected to grow over the next four years to AUD17.7bn by 2014 with a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 10.2%.
Phil Harpur, senior research manager at Frost & Sullivan, said: "The number of Australian shoppers using international retail sites confirms that there is a large untapped potential for Australian retailers to develop a local online customer base.
"However, we are unlikely to see major growth in this sector until more of the big name retailers get online."
