Consumers splashed tens of billions of dollars online on food, department stores, fashion and their pets over the past year, and Australia Post says the country is on track to be spending one in every three dollars online by 2033.

The national postal carrier’s annual review of e-commerce in Australia, released on Wednesday, highlights that while online shopping growth has moderated since lockdowns lifted, shoppers still spent $63.8 billion online in 2022. Digital transactions now make up 18 per cent of total retail sales, compared with 19.3 per cent in 2021.

Australia Post’s general manager of parcel, post and e-commerce services, Gary Starr, said that country would be spending one in every three dollars online by 2033.

He said there was no question e-commerce was becoming more embedded in Australian culture, and spending growth was continuing for customers outside cities.

“Overall [online] growth has reduced, but in outer rural areas and further out of some of the cities, we saw a roughly six per cent growth.”

Home and garden purchases made up the biggest slice of overall online spending for the year, at 29.3 per cent, or $18.7 billion, 3.5 per cent down on the previous year, as spending on big-ticket purchases started to slow across the country.

Parcels containing pet products had the biggest surge within the home category during the year, up by close to 22 per cent. The retailer sector’s focus on pets this year has been clear, with major investments from the likes of Woolworths and Bunnings into expanding their offers for our furry friends.

Food and liquor spend had the biggest rise in online sales, thanks to grocery shopping and meal-kit deliveries, with spending hitting $13.1 billion, while strong performance in the department stores sector led the variety stores category to growth of 8.6 per cent to $11.6 billion.