Online retail sales growth took a big hit in November, falling to its slowest pace on record.
After online retail sales grew to $16.19 billion for the year to October 2014 (11.9% annually), they experienced a considerable slowdown in November contracting by 0.2% compared to October, which was likely caused by shaky consumer confidence and a declining Australian dollar.
According to the online retail sales index of National Australia Bank Ltd. (ASX: NAB), online sales are now sitting just 3.9% higher than a year ago after what was the slowest monthly and annual growth rate in the series' history.
In fact, the latest numbers are even lower than growth figures for Australia's bricks and mortar retailers. The latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics shows that traditional retail sales are sitting 6.1% higher than a year ago.
Source: NAB Online Retail Sales Index
As it stands, Australians are estimated to have spent $16.3 billion online in the year to November, which represents roughly 6.8% of spending at traditional bricks and mortar stores (this excludes non-comparable stores such as cafes and restaurants).
Department store sales, which account for 34% of all online sales, still managed to rise 4.4% over the month which could apply additional pressure to Myer Holdings Ltd (ASX: MYR) and David Jones, while sales of Electronic Games and Toys managed to rise 39.4%. However, it should be noted that this division still only accounts for 3% of total online sales.
