Australia, while a burgeoning mobile-first market, presents a paradox for financial institutions, FinTech innovators and payment providers.
In the Land Down Under, there’s a population eager for digital convenience, particularly one-click checkout, but the demand often outstrips the pace of merchant adoption and technological readiness.
According to the recent 2025 Global Digital Shopping Index: Australia Edition, commissioned by Visa Acceptance Solutions and produced by PYMNTS Intelligence, 43% of Australian shoppers utilized a mobile device for their latest retail purchase, whether online or in-store. This adoption rate, while slightly below the eight-country global average of 48%, places Australia ahead of the U.S. in mobile shopping proliferation.
With a bit more granularity, mobile devices dominate online shopping in Australia, with 61% of consumers making their latest transactions this way. Younger demographics and parents are leading the shift, with 60% of millennials, 57% of Generation Z and 52% of parents with children under their care making their latest retail purchase via mobile.
However, the report — drawing insights from a survey of 2,174 Australian consumers and 400 merchants conducted from Oct. 17 to Dec. 9, 2024 — reveals a significant divergence in terms of merchants meeting consumer payment preferences. Australians exhibit a pronounced affinity for seamless checkout experiences, particularly third-party, one-click checkout solutions. A striking 35% of Australian shoppers opted for these methods in their latest online purchase, more than twice the global average of 17% and second only to Saudi Arabia.
The read across is that there’s strong consumer trust in established card networks and a clear demand for expedited payment processes.
Biometrics Make Headway
In addition, Australian consumers are embracing advanced authentication methods at higher rates. Biometric authentication, such as fingerprint or facial recognition, was used by 24% of Australian shoppers for their latest online transaction, significantly surpassing the global average of 19%.
Yet, merchants appear to be lagging in meeting these burgeoning demands for convenience and advanced functionality. The report highlights that only 21% of Australian consumers used credentials stored directly with merchants for their last online shop, less than half the global average of 45%. This suggests that while consumers desire speed and convenience — cited by 53% and 52% respectively as reasons for storing credentials — they also harbor significant concerns about data security, with 62% fearing their data being stolen or sold.
The onus is on the retailers to enhance their stored credential solutions by prioritizing robust data security and a streamlined, trustworthy user experience.
The gap extends to cross-channel shopping capabilities. A quarter of Australian shoppers (25%) expressed a desire to use cross-channel features with their most recent merchant but found them unavailable. Currently, only 48% of Australian merchants offer cross-channel shopping, trailing the 57% global average.
Merchants cite significant challenges in implementing these features, including data security risks (35%), the complexity of managing multiple sales channels (34%), and difficulties with software and system integration (31%).
Nearly half (45%) of Australian retailers are at least somewhat apprehensive that their current systems will not meet future demands, with 16% expressing high concern. Larger Australian merchants (those with over $10 million in annual revenue) are even more likely to be worried (47%), suggesting that complexity scales with business size.
For banks, FinTechs and payment solution providers, this landscape presents a significant opportunity. Australian consumers have clearly articulated their preferences for speed, convenience, and secure authentication methods. Merchants, in turn, are grappling with the operational and technical complexities tied to delivering those experiences. Addressing merchant concerns around data security, simplifying multi-channel management and providing integrated, future-proof payment systems offer new opportunities for those providers.
