Online shopping further grew among Australian consumers, mostly spurred by cheaper products offered by international retailers who were able to lure web-prowling customers looking to extend the value of their dollar.

In a recent survey conducted by Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA), as many as 62 percent of 2000 respondents had indicated that internet shopping is a clear option while surfing various online retails sites here and abroad.

The news, no doubt, serves as a blow to the conventional retailers who have been long complaining of dipping sales due to the competition offered by high-tech players in the industry.

The new research findings noted too that the domestic retail scene could be in for more worries as latest online shopping trend showed that more and more Aussies are gravitating towards retailers based outside of the country, with close to 70 percent of those polled admitting that they shop online and they patronise international sites.

While the current numbers of Australian sites dominating the local online shopping industry, last placed by ACMA at 53 percent, that level, the survey said, actually represented a steep decline during the past 18 months.

According to ACMA, dominated the local online shopping at 68 percent from over a year ago but the number has since dwindled and the likelihood of further share erosion is a daunting reality for many retail players.

The survey results ACMA released on Tuesday also showed that up to 62 percent of internet users, with ages ranging from 35 to 44, browsed through products displayed by online retailers and bought them during the past six months leading to April this year.

Along with the rising incidence of online shopping among Aussies, more foreign retailers have successfully attracted local buyers, with their share spiking from 12 percent to 19 percent in the six months that led to November 2009, the ACMA report said.

ACMA spokesman Joseph Di Gregorio said that local shoppers were lured by products abroad due to their affordability, further highlighting Australian shoppers' advantage due to the high value of the local currency.

It also helped, Di Gregorio added, that many products found online are not offered locally and in some degree, established international retailers such as Amazon and eBay enjoy considerable advantages in advertising their products.

Nonetheless, the online shopping environment in Australia is still a local field, the ACMA survey said as some 59 percent of local players picked up orders from web surfers while another 30 percent had indicated that their shopping expenses have been equally split on Australian and offshore retailers.