It’s almost impossible to know anything for certain during the global pandemic. But if there’s one thing that comes close, it’s that the future of Australian e-commerce is looking bright.

"Even with Australia’s surge in unemployment, the appetite for spending is still there."

KPMG has already categorised the COVID e-commerce boom into two distinct waves. The first wave is the one we’re currently in, where demand is driven by the shock impact of lockdowns, business closures and the death of bricks-and-mortar retail. We’re shopping online because, essentially, there isn’t much alternative. No big surprises there.

“Retailers with truly omni-channel experiences will be best positioned to benefit during the early recovery period.”

"online transactions already accounted for 7.2 per cent of all Australian retail sales. The pandemic just sent an existing trend into overdrive."

There’s some historical precedent for this, albeit on a small scale. In 2003, the SARS outbreak dramatically changed Chinese consumer behaviour. Because people were fearful of going outside, bricks-and-mortar retail shrank, and e-commerce platforms soared. SARS is partly responsible for the success of Jing Dong (one of China’s largest online retailers) and Taobao (Alibaba’s B2C commerce platform), who both pivoted in the wake of the outbreak.

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