Online retail sales improve in March

From NAB comes its online retail sales index for March, which showed a small rebound from February’s slowdown:

• In the year to March 2014, Australians spent $15.2 billion on online retail. This level is equivalent to 6.6% of spending with traditional bricks & mortar retailers (excluding cafés, restaurants and takeaway food to create a like-for-like comparison) in the year to February.
• The NAB Online Retail Sales Index improved in March – to a seasonally adjusted 244 points (from 239 points in February).
• Online retail sales grew in March. In seasonally adjusted three month moving average terms online sales expanded 0.3% (from a flat February). In year-on-year terms, the online index grew 12.5%, a rate more consistent with January (11.8%) than February (+8.3%).
• Sales growth for traditional bricks & mortar retail has improved in recent months, maintaining momentum of about +0.7%, in February (seasonally adjusted, 3 month moving average basis).
• The improved growth trend for online retail sales is not reflected in conditions at the category level. Continuing its recent upward momentum Groceries & Liquor growth was the strongest in that series history. Department & Variety Stores, and Fashion Categories also saw strong growth, although Media has continued to trend downward. Two categories that again contracted were Daily Deals and Personal & Recreational Goods.

Tomorrow, the ABS releases its retail trade survey for March, which will provide a broader indication of how Australia’s retail sector is traveling.