![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Shopify-1.png\")
<\/p>\nShopify\u2014whose enterprise e-commerce software powers thousands of Australian retail websites, including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, Petstock, The Body Shop and 2XU\u2014has reported another record-breaking Black Friday, with global sales climbing 25% to more than A$9.4 billion. Remarkably, Australia ranked as the fourth-highest grossing nation on the platform despite its comparatively small population, underscoring the continued strength of the local online retail sector.<\/p>\n
ChannelNews understands that Australian consumer electronics and appliance retailers are expecting around 5% year-on-year growth, even in a challenging economic environment marked by tight household budgets.Australia\u2019s Black Friday Surge<\/p>\n
Black Friday has rapidly evolved into Australia\u2019s single largest shopping event, eclipsing traditional local sale periods such as Boxing Day. Over the past five years, Australian participation has surged as retailers have adopted more aggressive discounting strategies and shoppers have learned to hold off major purchases until the late-November sales window.<\/p>\n
Shopify is uniquely positioned to measure real-time retail activity because its checkout technology is embedded across hundreds of major Australian e-commerce sites. According to the platform, this year\u2019s growth was supported by a strong early-shopping trend, with many Australians beginning their research as early as October and entering the sale period with larger\u2014but more strictly controlled\u2014budgets.<\/p>\n
Rise of AI-Assisted Shopping<\/p>\n
A key shift this year was the dramatic rise in AI-assisted shopping behaviours. Both Australian and U.S. consumers increasingly used AI-powered bots to compare prices, identify the best deals, generate personalised gift ideas, and track stock availability.<\/p>\n
Data from Adobe Analytics revealed an extraordinary 805% increase in AI-driven traffic to retail websites compared with 2024. Analysts say this reflects a fundamental change in how shoppers navigate online sales.<\/p>\n
\u201cConsumers are using new tools to get to what they need faster,\u201d noted Suzy Davidkhanian of eMarketer, highlighting that efficiency and value were top priorities for 2025.<\/p>\n
Adobe\u2019s own survey found that nearly half of U.S. shoppers have already used\u2014or plan to use\u2014AI tools to assist with their Christmas and New Year holiday shopping. Australian consumers are exhibiting similar behaviour, with local retailers reporting more AI-assisted product discovery than ever.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Nintendo-Switch-2-e1749171863361.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
What Australians Bought<\/p>\n
Across both Australia and global Shopify merchants, some of the most in-demand Black Friday products included:<\/p>\n
Nintendo Switch consoles and games<\/p>\n
AI-powered PCs and accessories<\/p>\n
Pok\u00e9mon trading cards<\/p>\n
LEGO sets<\/p>\n
Apple AirPods<\/p>\n
Kitchen mixers and small appliances<\/p>\n
PlayStation 5 consoles and bundles<\/p>\n
Activewear, premium cosmetics, and fashion also continued their strong growth trajectory, driven by younger consumers and influencer-led promotions.<\/p>\n
Australian Shopify Merchant Highlights<\/p>\n
Shopify\u2019s data for Australian merchants showed:<\/p>\n
Peak Sales Hour: 10 AM AEST on November 28<\/p>\n
Top-Selling Cities: Melbourne, Sydney, Brisbane
\nTop Product Categories: Clothing tops, cosmetics, activewear, dresses, fitness & nutrition
\nCross-Border Shopping: 14% of Australian orders were international
\nPOS Growth: In-store sales processed via Shopify POS rose 53% year-on-year, suggesting omni-channel retail is strengthening<\/p>\n
One standout performer was Queensland-based brand LSKD, which generated more than $10 million in the first hour of its Black Friday sale earlier in November and hit peaks of 2,500 checkouts per minute, making it one of the most successful local case studies of the season.<\/p>\n
Retailer Insights<\/p>\n
Shaun Broughton, Managing Director for APAC and Japan at Shopify, said: \u201cThis Black Friday has been record-breaking once again, with total sales globally reaching $9.4 billion, a 25% increase from last year. As the 4th top-selling country, this follows an incredibly active lead-up period for Australia, with half of consumers planning to start their shopping by October and entering the weekend with larger but stricter budgets.\u201d<\/p>\n
Broughton added that Australian sales peaked at 10 AM on Friday, reinforcing the resilience and adaptability of the local retail industry.![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Acer-Swift-AI-16.jpg\")
<\/p>\n
Black Friday in Australia: A Bigger Picture<\/p>\n
Retail analysts note that Black Friday now plays a much more critical role in the Australian retail calendar:<\/p>\n
Consumers wait for it: Many Australians delay major purchases\u2014TVs, appliances, smartphones\u2014until Black Friday discounts are announced.<\/p>\n
Retailers plan months ahead: Big retailers negotiate product allocations and exclusive bundles well in advance to compete for online and in-store traffic.<\/p>\n
Economic pressure increases bargain-hunting: With cost-of-living concerns front of mind, shoppers increasingly seek deeper discounts and rely heavily on price-comparison tools.<\/p>\n
Marketing starts earlier: Most major retailers now begin promoting \u201cpre-Black Friday\u201d deals from early November, creating a month-long shopping season.<\/p>\n
Overall Spending Trends<\/p>\n
According to Adobe Analytics, global online spending rose 5.3% year-over-year, buoyed by Cyber Week promotions that were stronger and more sustained than expected.<\/p>\n
With consumer electronics, gaming, home appliances, wellness products, and fashion driving the majority of growth, analysts predict that Australia will once again record one of the highest per-capita Black Friday spending levels in the world.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Shopify\u2014whose enterprise e-commerce software powers thousands of Australian retail websites, including JB Hi-Fi, The Good Guys, Bing Lee,…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":324630,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[20],"tags":[256,254,255,64,63,105],"class_list":["post-324629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-artificial-intelligence","tag-ai","tag-artificial-intelligence","tag-artificialintelligence","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-technology"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324629","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=324629"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/324629\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/324630"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=324629"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=324629"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=324629"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}