Aussies weren’t afraid to take to online shopping when the first wave of COVID-19 cases struck, and lockdown was in full force.
Home renovations, food delivery, office supplies and exercise equipment filled online shopping carts, with Bunnings Warehouse snagging the top spot.
The home and garden retailer had the highest traffic according to data form online visibility analysis platform SEMrush, up 74% year-on-year, with 5.7 million visitors, more than second place Amazon Australia.
Top 10 online retailers
- Bunnings Warehouse
- Amazon Australia
- Woolworths
- K-mart
- JB Hi-Fi
- Big W
- Coles
- Microsoft
- Harvey Norman
- Officeworks
“When it comes to seeing how the top retailers are stacking up in 2020, SEMrush has been able to track consumer behaviour and trends by analysing online searches from the past year with a noticeable difference during the peak lockdown period,” says Head of Global Marketing at SEMrush, Olga Andrienko.
“Department stores made up the majority of the top 50 retailers, SEMrush’s data shows a clear trend in consumer preference towards at-home items with Bunnings, Spotlight and IKEA all experiencing significant spikes in website traffic during the past year.”
During the Q2 period, there were a total of 633 million visits to department store websites, 413 million to electronics and office, and 410 million to home and hardware retailers.
“Changes in consumer preference is not only reflected in the website traffic, but also in the search volumes, with a significant reduction in searching for flights especially with searches relating to cheaper flight websites such as Webjet, AirAsia and Jetstar.”
There was also a significant increase in searches for outdoor accessories such as motorbikes, caravans and bikes mirroring the spikes in visitors to websites such as Bunnings, BCF and Rebel Sports.