The bar graph illustrates the proportion of internet consumers engaging in e-commerce in Australia classified into six age brackets across two different years, 2007 and 2009.
Overall, it is clear that shopping online became increasingly common among individuals of all age categories, with every age bracket showing an upward trend throughout the examined period. Notably, people aged from 36 to 45 had the highest rate of making purchases via the internet by 2009.
In terms of individuals belonging to the 36-45 age demographic and seniors aged 65+, in 2007, approximately one in four people between the age of 36 and 45 engaged in online shopping, which was significantly higher than that of the latter, accounting for only 5%. Over the next two years, the figure for the 36-45 age category soared to 38%, making an overall surge of nearly 13%. In a similar fashion, the share of individuals who shopped online increased to 12%, rising by 7 percentage points over the whole timeframe.
According to the other remaining age brackets, in 2007, the online shopping percentages of the youngest age group and individuals aged between 46 and 55 had comparable figures, standing at precisely one-fifth and 22%, respectively. Furthermore, the rate of people making purchases via the internet of the second youngest group stood at 31%, overtaking their 55-65 counterparts by a wide margin of nearly 19%. In 2009, online shopping figures for the two youngest age brackets inched up, with each age category experiencing an increase of roughly 3 percentage points. There was a growth of 5% in the rate of people shopped online among the 46-55 demographic. Similarly, the figure for the 55-65 age group crept up from 12% to 17% over the entire period.