Australians are spending more money on online shopping and apps than ever before, according to a new report.
‘Digital 2019’ is a collaboration between social-media management company Hootsuite and creative agency We Are Social. It examines digital trends and social media use across 230 countries and territories, including Australia.
Online spending: apps and goods
In 2018, Australians spent $1.78 billion on almost 750 million app downloads. Tinder brought in the highest app revenue and Facebook developed the top four most used mobile apps: Facebook Messenger, Facebook, Instagram and Whatsapp.
Australians also spent $25.89 billion online buying consumer goods. This is a higher total than ever before and 22 per cent more than in 2017.
Fashion and beauty products took the lion’s share of Aussies’ money, at $9.16 billion. This sum was 26 per cent higher than in 2017 and, by way of context, double the growth in the US over the same period.
A list of Australians’ most popular websites and search histories also reflects their love of ecommerce: eBay (seventh), Gumtree (12th) and Amazon (18th) all feature.
Australians also googled a range of retail brands, including Bunnings (seventh in the list), Kmart (eighth), Gumtree (10th), Coles (12th), eBay (13th) and Woolworths (17th).
Facebook still on top
Social media use is still rising Down Under. A massive 18 million people, or 72 per cent of the population, actively use Facebook, Instagram, Snapchat or Twitter. This is up from 66 per cent in 2017.
Facebook still reigns as Australia’s most popular social media network, with a total advertising audience of 16 million monthly users.
By contrast, Twitter and Snapchat have fallen behind. Their active advertising audiences fell by 2.3 per cent and 14 per cent, respectively.
Commenting on the survey findings, We Are Social’s local Managing Director Suzie Shaw said: “Australians are prepared to spend online across desktop, mobile and increasingly, social.
“Marketers should not overlook the huge revenue opportunity that comes from social commerce.”
