Australians spent a total of $18.3 billion online during the full 2014-15 financial year, with $9.3 billion in the six months to June 2015, up 21.7 percent on the same period last year.
The H1 2015 Online Retail Report by eWay found e-commerce grew at a steady pace throughout the financial year.
The Australian e-commerce outfit, which claims to process a quarter of all online payments in Australia, reported a 21.5pc month-on-month growth in sales between May and June, up from 15 percent growth in the same period last year.
Founder and CEO Matt Bullock said the Federal Budget was a key driver.
“The spike seems to be related to the new Federal Budget allowing small businesses to claim instant tax deductions of up to $20,000, which also removed fringe benefits taxes on electronic company equipment,” he said.
“We saw an exponential growth in office supplies online sales during the first six months of the year, with sales climbing, especially in June.”
Bullock said 2015 is heading to be a record year for Australian e-commerce.
“In the past six months we’ve signed on an additional 3000 small businesses to eWay, some of which are in industries that don’t traditionally accept online payments, such as plumbers or builders.”
