Click, cart, repeat: end of year sales events see close to 22 million people hit retail and commerce websites in December – Ipsos iris data

More than 21 million people used a news website or app in December

23 January 2026 – December delivered a near-universal online shopping moment, closing out an extended end-of-year sales period that began in October, as sustained promotional activity and Christmas demand saw 21.79 million Australians, or 98.5% of the online population aged 14+, flock to retail and commerce websites and apps, according to Ipsos iris data released today.

Australians spent around 7.9 hours, or more than 15 minutes a day, consuming retail and commerce online content and services last month.

The retail and commerce category experienced strong engagement in December, following elevated audience levels across the October to December period. The category includes a wide range of retail sub-categories, including beverages which soared from 7.6 million in November to 9.1 million in December, an increase of just under 20% month on month, and Beauty, where the audience grew from 8.1 million in November to 8.4 million in December, an increase of just over 4% month on month.

Online content consumption also showed that books are back, with the Books (including e-books) and Literature sub-category audience surging by 6.4% month on month, as summer reading and gifting over the festive season became popular.

Women drove the growth of the overall retail and commerce category, comprising 52.4% of the audience, compared to men at 47.6% of the audience.

The chart below shows the Retail and Commerce brands’ ranking during December 2025 by online audience size.

More than nine in 10 Australians consumed online news content in December

A total of 21.3 million people used a news website or app in December 2025, reaching 96.5% of online Australians aged 14+, and spent an average of 3.3 hours per month consuming online news content.

Major local and international news events continue to see Australians turn to news websites and apps for major local and international news events. Locally, online news was dominated by the Bondi Beach terror attack which generated immense and sustained coverage across all news platforms. The narrative evolved from initial breaking news and live updates to stories focusing on the victims, the heroic actions of bystanders, and the political and social fallout. The sheer volume of articles and time spent as the tragic event unfolded indicated that this story captured the nation’s attention more than any other.

Other local news driving consumption was the ongoing trial of Tom Silvagni and his rape conviction, the personal life of AFL player Lachie Neale and his marriage breakdown, plus sporting events including the Ashes cricket series and the AFL trading season and draft picks.

Globally, stories related to the British Royals garnered interest, as well as the death of film director Rob Reiner and his wife Michelle, the continuing release of the Jeffrey Epstein files, live scores, fixtures, and league tables for the Premier League football, and major boxing events, including the Jake Paul vs. Anthony Joshua fight.

The chart below shows the News brands’ ranking during December 2025 by online audience size.

Career, Homes and Property see biggest audience increases in December

The Career category topped year on year growth for December, rising by 6.6% and was followed by Homes and Property (+6.2%), Health (+3.9%), Social Networking (+3.4%) and Entertainment (+3.4%).

Ipsos iris, Australia’s digital audience measurement currency endorsed by IAB Australia, showed that a total of 22.127 million Australians aged 14+ used the internet in December and spent 4.68 hours per day on average online, which was up 1.7% compared to the same time last year.

The most consumed categories in September were Search Engines (22.05 million), Social Networking (22.04 million), Online Media (21.9 million), Technology (21.9 million), and Retail and Commerce (21.8 million).

Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the 22.127 million Australians aged 14+ who access a wide variety of digital content and services across smartphone, PC/laptop and tablet devices.

Notes for editors:

Ipsos iris is an independent source of truth for the media industry providing a level playing field for comparison of audience reach and characteristics and supporting the $17.2 billion Australian online advertising market (Source; IAB Australia Internet Advertising Revenue Report prepared by PWC FY25)
Ipsos iris provides accuracy in solving cross-device deduplication, the biggest challenge in measuring online audiences, using a single-source multi-device panel measuring activity on 8,000 smartphone, PC, laptop and tablet devices
Ipsos iris provides accurate data about the number of people who visit the content of digital publishers and platforms, along with the frequency of visits and time spent by tracking digital audience behaviour across desktop/laptop, smartphone, and tablets. It uses a hybrid methodology that combines metered data from a high quality, nationally representative, single-source passive panel with site-centric census measurement via media owner tagging.
In February 2024, the CTV audience currency integration from a data partnership with OzTAM launched, providing total unduplicated digital audience currency data for BVOD across CTV, smartphones, tablets, and computers.
In August 2024, enriched YouTube audience reach and watch time data for Connected TV across mobile, desktop and tablets was integrated into Ipsos iris, in collaboration with Google and IAB Australia.
Ipsos iris is fully privacy compliant and cross-media ready and will continue to evolve with a roadmap of enhancements over 2024 and beyond. It will also be adaptable to changing requirements as the industry develops in future years.
The launch of Ipsos iris with monthly data from January 2023 was the culmination of extensive work by the IAB and its Measurement Council that commenced in early 2021 with a strategic review of industry requirements. Ipsos was awarded the IAB’s endorsement, having best met the standards on criteria across all areas of product along with criteria for operations and a future roadmap.
Further information can be found at: https://iris-au.ipsos.com/