The NAB Online Retail Sales Index (NORSI) has revealed that online retail sales have notched the highest monthly growth rate since December 2014.

NAB’s latest data indicates that online sales jumped 4.7% in November. Consumers are also opting for web purchases much more than they were last year.

Whilst the figures do not incorporate the impact of Australia’s Christmas sales period – nor the launch of Amazon – NAB’s data does reveal that year-on-year online sales growth increased 14.4%.

NAB estimates that Aussie consumers have spent about $24 billion in the past 12 months to November 2017 – i.e. equivalent of 7.7% of spending at traditional physical retailers in the 12 months to October 2017.

Homewares and appliances witnessed the most rapid growth over the past year – growing 24.9% versus 3.8%.

On the other hand, NAB claims that month-on-month seasonally adjusted sales for traditional retailers climbed 0.5% in October.

Following a revised NORSI of 2% for October, NAB’s data reveals that in the month, online retail sales outpaced traditional sales.

NAB’s data claims that the majority of growth stems from major players, as SME month-on-month sales in November slowed to 3%.