The benefits delivered by faster delivery

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.