The benefits delivered by faster delivery
REPORT

The benefits delivered by faster delivery

clock

21.08.2024 - 03:32

RetailCompetitionTechnology

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.

portableText image

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.

portableText image

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.

portableText image

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.

portableText image

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.

portableText image

Read the full report with additional analysis, methodology and references here.

Read our latest posts

Unlocking a Virtuous Cycle: Overcoming Barriers to AI in Australian Energy Systems
AIEnergy transitionElectricNet zeroTechnology

Unlocking a Virtuous Cycle: Overcoming Barriers to AI in Australian Energy Systems

Mandala's latest research, developed in partnership with Microsoft, examines the barriers to transformative AI adoption in Australia's electricity system. The research finds that AI is one of the few tools able to unlock capacity and efficiency from the existing grid without waiting on new transmission and generation capacity, yet adoption today remains incremental. Three soft barriers, a lack of shared strategy, weak investment incentives and siloed data, are constraining Australia's ability to capture this potential. Overcoming them will require joint action from government, the technology industry and energy utilities to prove AI's value, align policy settings and fund pilots through to deployment.

8 Jul, 2026

Demonstrating the local benefits of AI infrastructure in Wisconsin
AIEconomicsInternationalIndustry

Demonstrating the local benefits of AI infrastructure in Wisconsin

Mandala's latest research, prepared for Microsoft, examines the economic impact of hyperscale data center investment on Wisconsin's communities, businesses, and workforce. The research finds that committed data center projects will channel $16.5 billion to local suppliers, support more than 9,000 jobs during construction, and generate lasting economic activity across every county in the state, thereby extending Wisconsin's long tradition of industrial leadership into the AI era.

1 Jul, 2026

The essential infrastructure: How Australian banks power the economy
HousingSuperannuationFinancial servicesEconomics

The essential infrastructure: How Australian banks power the economy

Mandala's latest research, prepared for the Australian Banking Association, examines the often-hidden role Australian banks play in supporting households, businesses and the broader economy. The research finds that banks are deeply embedded in the financial lives of Australians - as lenders, as community investors, through the jobs they generate and increasingly as assets owned by Australians themselves through shares and superannuation. From financing homes and small businesses to supporting regional communities through hardship and disaster, the report builds a picture of a sector whose success is broadly shared across the Australian population.

17 Jun, 2026

The threat of climate change to the US insurance industry
ClimateHousing

The threat of climate change to the US insurance industry

This joint report by the Coalition for an Insurable Future and Mandala Partners examines how climate change is undermining the stability of the US home insurance market. Homeowners insurance premiums have risen 38% since 2021, outpacing both inflation and wage growth, while 1 in 7 owner-occupied homes are now uninsured. Climate risk could push national premiums 35–107% higher by 2050, leave an additional 1.5–2.5 million households without cover by 2035, and cost the broader economy $1 trillion. The aggregate cost could rise to over $3 trillion by 2050. A preliminary assessment of state-level policy responses across California, Florida, Louisiana, New York and Colorado finds that effectiveness is mixed, and that the burden of costs falls primarily on homeowners, insurers and taxpayers, rather than on the sources of the underlying climate risk.

10 Jun, 2026

Loading...