More and more Australian consumers are purchasing goods or services online, with ACMA finding that close to 90 per cent of household Internet users in Australia have engaged in one or more e-commerce activities.According to the research released at the annual Communications Policy and Research Forum in Sydney, 69 per cent of respondents purchased at least one good or service in the last six months.

The most popular goods and services purchased by Australian consumers were: travel goods and services (56 per cent); event, concert or movie tickets (43 per cent) and household goods-such as furniture, electrical appliances, computer equipment (37 per cent).

The research also revealed that consumers with higher levels of education, income and in some form of employment were more likely to engage in e-commerce. More than 54 per cent of respondents spent less than $1000 during the previous six months, while 43 per cent spent in excess of that.

Convenience was cited as the most common reason for purchasing online (74 per cent). The next most common driver was lower cost (38 per cent).

However, those who do not purchase goods online said that the main reasons why they didn’t was that they ‘lack trust of the internet (25 per cent), want to shop the old fashioned way (19 per cent) and have no desire to do so (17 per cent).

ACMA Chairman Chris Chapman said, “These are suggestive of increasing consumer confidence with making online transactions. The internet is empowering consumers to purchase more economically and efficiently by making it easier to locate goods and services and often to compare costs.”

“E-commerce is one of a number of internet activities performed by Australians online and this is the first time the ACMA has explored the nature of Australian participation and engagement with e-commerce in any depth.”