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
Unlocking Australia's R&D potential
Our research in collaboration with Atlassian, the BCA and Cochlear sets out a path forward for Australia to realise its R&D potential. Australia’s productivity growth is at a 60-year low, driven in part by declining business investment in R&D. Our latest report highlights the critical role large businesses play in Australia’s innovation ecosystem and the urgent need for policy reform. Despite strong talent and institutions, Australia underperforms global peers due to high costs and uncompetitive incentives. The report outlines six targeted reforms - including simplified R&D tax incentives and a commercialisation premium - that could together generate $7.7 billion in annual economic output and lift productivity by 0.1%, with a fiscally neutral impact. With the Strategic Examination of R&D underway, this is a pivotal opportunity to restore Australia’s innovation edge.
28 Jul, 2025
Digital platforms and competition in Australia
Our latest research in collaboration with Apple examines proposals to introduce an ex ante competition framework for digital platforms in Australia by assessing digital platform regulations in international jurisdictions. We find that jurisdictions that have implemented ex ante regimes have experienced implementation challenges, with consequences for users and the economy. This study highlights that the need for regulatory regimes to preserve the benefits delivered by platforms while maintaining the flexibility to adapt to rapidly evolving technologies.
24 Jul, 2025
Climate Risk Index for the European Energy Sector
Mandala Partners in partnership with Zurich Resilience Solutions has produced Europe's first comprehensive Climate Risk Index for renewable energy infrastructure across five major European markets. This groundbreaking analysis reveals the scale of climate vulnerability facing Europe's clean energy transition and provides actionable insights for building resilience across France, Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK. Nearly half of Europe's renewable generation capacity is in critical climate risk categories, threatening the foundation of the continent's energy security and economic stability.
16 Jul, 2025
Shock Resistant
Shock Resistant outlines novel insights into the ways that platform workers in the US used platform work as a strategy for mitigating the impacts of the pandemic and cost of living crisis.
2 Jul, 2025