Nearly three quarters of Australians are now regularly purchasing goods online, mirroring the global surge in e-commerce.

 

The latest edition of The Internet in Australia survey showed that three quarters of respondents are now shopping online, up from 45 per cent four years ago.

 

"Most people in our survey - around 88 per cent - are using the internet to research products or prices, but six in ten say they are buying something on it every month," said Scott Ewing of the ARC Centre of Excellence for Creative Industries and Innovation (CCI) at Swinburne University of Technology.

 

"In 2007, around 43 per cent said they never bought anything - but that has dropped to 22 per cent by 2011 as people gained confidence and experience in internet transactions."

 

Nearly three quarters of Australian internet users are using it to make travel bookings, pay bills and do their banking.

 

And nearly half say they check out the price of things they plan to buy in local stores, before deciding to buy them over the internet instead.

 

"People are still bothered about credit card security in online purchases - and it appears those concerns have not changed much in recent years, and that this remains the main obstacle to their increased use of online shopping," Mr Ewing said.