Australians are estimated to have spent $76 million during the Black Friday sales this year, an increase of 166 per cent on 2014.
Normally reserved for American shoppers, Black Friday sales begin the day after the Thanksgiving holiday and are traditionally one of the biggest shopping days of the year.
Australian online payments platform, eWAY, processes 1 in every 4 dollars spent online in Australia. The company reported it processed $19 million during the sales period, taking the total estimated spend to $76 million.
eWAY powers 22,600 online stores, and processes 1 in every 4 dollars spent online in Australia, so this data is indicative of the trends present across the country.
Australians spent $146.8 million in online transactions between 23 and 29 November, 2014. This year the figure more than doubled to $392 million.
In November this year, eWAY processed $450 million for local retailers, up 20 per cent on the same time period last year.
Despite the spike attributed to Black Friday sales in Australia, eWAY said the surge will push right through the shopping season, making 2015 the biggest year for online Christmas shopping ever.
eWAY founder and chief executive, Matt Bullock, expects online sales to exceed the $3 billion mark this season.
“The drop in the Aussie dollar has meant that shoppers have chosen to part with their hard earned dollars at local online retailers instead of the overseas retailers who have long enjoyed the benefits of a strong Aussie dollar,” he said.
“Unlike bricks and mortar retailers who enjoy the week before Christmas as their biggest retail shopping week of the year, online retailers are ramping up for more onslaught from eager shoppers throughout the week before the December 15 cut-off to ensure deliveries arrive on time.
"More Aussie retailers are now selling online compared to last year and coupled with more retailers jumping onboard the Black Friday bandwagon, Australia’s online retail obsession is here to stay."
