Amazon Australia adds 1.1 million new customers to its customer base; now 7.9 million Australians shop on Amazon ramping up its status as a threat to all Australian retailers
As many retail brands struggle to maintain sales and acquire new customers amid the cost-of-living crisis, Amazon continues to spectacularly buck the trend by growing its annual customer base by 1.1 million people in the 12 months to June 2024, compared to the previous year.
Now 7.9 million Australians aged 14+ shop on Amazon at least once a year, up from 6.8 million in the year to June 2023.
David Jones (-5%) and Target (-7%) have lost the most customers over the last 12 months compared to the previous year, while Big W and Myer are in neutral territory. JB HiFi is the only other retailer to have gained customers, with an increase of 300,000 in the current year.
Number of Australians 14+ who shop at each retailer in the 12-month period and year-on-year change
Source: Single Source data, Base: Australians 14+ who shopped any item at any of the listed retailers in the last 12 months.
Sample size: July 22 to June 23 n=66,234 and July 23 to June 24 n=64,708.
Amazon customers are high frequency shoppers
On average Australian Amazon shoppers are purchasing six times a year on the platform – almost as frequently as Kmart customers shop at Kmart (with an average of 7.5 times). A large proportion are high-frequency customers, with 3 in 10 Amazon shoppers making a purchase seven or more times over a 12-month period.
Source: Single Source data. Base: Australians 14+ who shopped at Amazon in the last 4 weeks.
Sample size: July 23 to June 24 n=9,476.
What are Australians buying on Amazon?
Books, small electrical goods, clothing and computers & accessories continue to be the top selling categories on Amazon Australia. Many shoppers are looking to Amazon to fulfill different needs buying across multiple categories: 31% of Amazon customers buy two or more categories; just over 1-in-10 buy three categories or more.
Top 10 categories purchased from Amazon (% of last 4 week Amazon shoppers buying each category)
Source: Single Source data. Base: Australians 14+ who shopped at Amazon in the last 4 weeks.
Sample size: July 23 to June 24 n=9,476.
But this is set to expand following recently announced plans to move into ‘big box’ retail – furniture and large electrical – via the construction of a new purpose-built warehouse in Sydney in 2026.
The global giant is also launching a strategy to win a share of the growing ultra-cheap retail market dominated by Shein and Temu, with reports that it is planning a new section devoted to non-branded products under $30, shipped directly from China to consumers.
Who’s shopping on Amazon?
A mix of all Australians are shopping on Amazon, however an even split between men (50%) and women (50%) sets Amazon apart from most of its peers which tend to skew towards women. More than half of Amazon’s shoppers are aged 25-39, and their shoppers are more likely than the average Australian to come from higher income households (3 in 10 shoppers live in $200,000+ income households).
Laura Demasi, Roy Morgan’s Head of Retail Research and Social & Consumer Trends:
“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.
“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.”
Margin of Error
The margin of error to be allowed for in any estimate depends mainly on the number of interviews on which it is based. Margin of error gives indications of the likely range within which estimates would be 95% likely to fall, expressed as the number of percentage points above or below the actual estimate. Allowance for design effects (such as stratification and weighting) should be made as appropriate.
| Sample Size | Percentage Estimate |
| 40% – 60% | 25% or 75% | 10% or 90% | 5% or 95% | |
| 1,000 | ±3.0 | ±2.7 | ±1.9 | ±1.3 |
| 5,000 | ±1.4 | ±1.2 | ±0.8 | ±0.6 |
| 7,500 | ±1.1 | ±1.0 | ±0.7 | ±0.5 |
| 10,000 | ±1.0 | ±0.9 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 |
| 20,000 | ±0.7 | ±0.6 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 |
| 50,000 | ±0.4 | ±0.4 | ±0.3 | ±0.2 |
