‘A threat to all Australian retailers’: Millions turn to Amazon as local retailers struggle
Amazon Australian has added 1.1 million new customers over the last year as the likes of David Jones and Target lose ground and Myer and Big W tread water.
Amazon’s 1.1 million new customers brings its Australian customer base to 7.9 million, as of June 2024, with Amazon shoppers considered “high-frequency” shoppers, making an average of six purchases a year on the platform.
In terms of frequency, this trumps the three JB Hi-Fi visits an average customer makes, and the four visitors to Myer, and is second to just Kmart customers, who visit a store (or digital outlet) an average of 7.5 times.
Roy Morgan, which crunched the data, calls Amazon’s quick growth “a threat to all Australian retailers”.
David Jones and Target have lost the most customers over the last 12 months compared to the previous year, shedding 5% and 7% of its customer base in just twelve months.
Big W and Myer are in neutral territory, while Kmart and JB Hi-Fi gained customers; both seeing an increase of 300,000 customers over the year.
Category-wise, Amazon shoppers are favouring books, small electrical goods, clothing, and computers and accessories – however, in keeping with its status as “the everything store”, 31% of Amazon customers buy two or more categories, and just over 10% buy across three categories or more.
“At a time where Australian retailers are battling it out for a share of dwindling disposable incomes, Amazon’s continued growth is impressive and signals a big change in the landscape,” explains Laura Demasi, Roy Morgan’s head of retail research and social and consumer trend.
“The disruptive power of Amazon has been underappreciated in recent years, but this kind of growth trajectory puts all Australian retail brands on notice – especially now given its upcoming expansion into big box retail and the ultra-cheap market.
“If Australia is on track to mirror the US trend, where Amazon accounts for an incredible 37.4% of all online spend, our retail landscape could look quite different in coming years.”
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