The benefits delivered by faster delivery
21.08.2024 - 03:32
Our latest report, commissioned by Amazon, presents new research measuring the improvements in delivery times over the last ten years and the benefits that have flowed to consumers, businesses, and the economy. Average delivery times have halved nationwide over the past 10 years. In metro areas and outer suburbs, average delivery times have fallen from 7-9 days to just 4 days. Online shoppers have saved 3.7 million hours per year. This improvement translates to $1.8 billion to businesses through more sales and lower costs. Read the full report to learn more.
The benefits delivered by faster delivery
Australians are getting the products they buy online faster than ever. Average delivery times have halved nationwide over the past 10 years. In metro areas and outer suburbs, average delivery times have fallen from 7-9 days to just 4 days.
Faster delivery times have delivered over $350 million of value to consumers. Online shoppers have saved 3.7 million hours per year. Faster delivery times especially benefit Australians with disabilities, who shop online three times more often than the rest of the population. This improvement translates to $1.8 billion to businesses through more sales and lower costs.
The value of convenience: Faster delivery times have delivered more than $350 million of value to Australian consumers over the past 10 years
Average delivery times have fallen 47 per cent nationwide over the past 10 years. They have fallen from 7-9 days to 4 days in metro areas and outer suburbs. Consumers highly value this convenience. These improvements have delivered over $350 million of value to consumers based on how much consumers are willing to pay for faster delivery.
Time saved: Faster delivery times have saved Australian consumers 3.7 million hours each year over the past 10 years
Faster deliveries have saved consumers 3.7 million hours each year with less time spent out shopping. This includes 2 million hours of extra time for paid and unpaid work and 1.7 million hours for leisure. More leisure time allows Australians to focus on education, entertainment, hobbies, and wellbeing.
Business benefits: Faster delivery times have benefited Australian businesses by $1.8 billion over the past decade through increased sales and lower costs
Faster delivery times significantly benefit sellers. More than $1.4 billion of sales in the last decade can be attributed to faster delivery. Receiving inventory faster has helped reduce costs by $400 million over the past 10 years.
Faster deliveries from online shopping have disproportionately benefited small businesses. Small businesses are nearly twice as likely as larger ones to earn most of their income online. Almost 30 per cent of small businesses earn over half their income from online sales compared to 18 per cent of larger businesses.
Faster delivery times are just one way in which online retail channels have supported consumers
Online retail channels have revolutionised the consumer experience and have eased cost-of-living pressures. Since 2019, these advances have saved Australian households nearly $3,500 on average. Online channels have also increased consumer choice and competition, with online businesses growing 55 percentage points faster than all businesses since 2019.
Read the full report with additional analysis, methodology and references here.
Read our latest posts
Surf, Shop, Save 2.0: How online retail is helping ease cost-of-living pressures in Australia
Mandala's latest research, commissioned by Amazon, examines how online channels are easing cost-of-living pressures for Australian households. The research analysed the prices of more than 95,000 products sold through online channels, constructing an Online Channel Index (OCI) to track how online prices have moved since 2019. The OCI has deflated 6 percentage points over that period, while the comparable CPI basket has risen 8 percentage points, a reflection of the competition and efficiency effects that online channels bring to the broader retail market. These effects are expected to save the average household $1,414 in 2026, roughly six weeks of grocery spending, with total savings of $7,766 since 2019. Lower-income households gain the most as a share of income. Online sales now account for 12 per cent of Australian retail, and some of the country's largest retailers are also leading omnichannel players.
22 May, 2026
Accelerating Housing Delivery Through Risk Capital Approaches
Mandala’s latest research, prepared with CBRE, aims to understand the benefits of shifting public-sector subsidies from grant dependence to risk capital co-investment. Risk capital is the deployment of sub-market loans to housing developments and has been applied in Greater Manchester to halve the effective public cost of subsidisation. As England grapples with a viability crisis, risk capital can provide an effective policy solution. This report models the deployment of £8.5bn from the National Housing Bank as risk capital across England. The report finds that deploying this capital within existing fiscal rules could unlock 94,000–104,000 additional homes by 2031, depending on the deployment strategy. This could crowd in £22bn in private investment, generate £5.6–£5.8bn in cumulative GDP growth, and support 71,000–73,000 jobs across England while recovering public capital with interest.
20 May, 2026
How Australia's largest industrial companies are tracking on emissions
Mandala's analysis examines how emissions from Australia's largest listed industrial companies have shifted between 2020 and 2025.
18 May, 2026
How deeper EV adoption can protect the UK against oil supply shocks
Mandala's research looks at how passenger electric vehicle uptake can help stretch the UK's liquid fuel supplies in times of supply shocks.
15 May, 2026