The latest NAB Online Retail Index released on Tuesday showed that in the year to April demand for products such as household appliances and electronic device dipped 5 per cent. However, for the same period, housewives online spending grew by 20 per cent.

Among the items they purchased from online stores are female-dominated products such as cosmetics and clothes.

The index was based on NAB's analysis of two million card transactions of Australian shoppers who spent $11.1 billion online in the last 12 months. The amount was 15 per cent higher compared to the same period in 2011.

The data means Aussie cardholders spent an average of $500 on online purchases a year. The biggest online spenders were people in the 30 to 40 age bracket, followed by consumers in their 50s and people below 30 years old. Almost 50 per cent of their online purchases from eBay and other online stores were for fashion and cosmetic.

Ebay confirmed that Aussies buy daily over 42,000 fashion items.

"Women who are perhaps at home with their kids shop online because it's convenient - it means they can select different products and choose between prices without leaving home," The Herald Sun quoted eBay spokeswoman Sandy Culkoff.

The report said online spending grew faster in Sydney and other affluent suburbs such as Killara, Vaucluse, Northbridge and Church Point where the average online purchase was beyond $1,200 annually.

To counter the continued shift in consumer shopping preference, major Australian bricks-and-mortar retailers such as Myer, David Jones and Target announced plans to spend more on upgrading their online presence. Retailers owned by Wesfarmers such as Target, Officeworks and Coles will provide on Wednesday details of their online expansion plans.

Hardest hit by the changing consumer behaviour were electronic retailers as evidenced by the collapses of Retravision South, Game and WOW Audio Visual. Other electronic retailers such as Harvey Norman, JB Hi-Fi and Dick Smith suffered from sales slumps.