By Claire Reilly

Consumers who shop online are increasingly gravitating towards discounted deals, according to new research from technology analysts Telsyte.

In a survey of more than 1100 Australian consumers that covered over 350 local online retailers across 18 categories of online trade, Telsyte found that consumers spent $15.9 billion on internet shopping in 2011, up 64 per cent from 2010. The company also found that pricing played a significant part in online retail, “with the main growth driver being demand for discounted offerings”.

Telsyte Senior Research Manager, Sam Yip, says that technological changes and economic conditions have accelerated the concept of discount online shopping.

“Retailers have spent the past few years trying to find the best way to drive their online strategy, and it is now evident that offering discounts is the main lever to get Australians to spend,” said Telsyte senior research manager, Sam Yip.

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In the last two years, “Australian consumers have been offered a multitude of new ways to shop online” and this growth is expected to continue, with Telsyte predicting the online retail market to exceed $30 billion by 2016.

As consumer demand for competitive deals increases, “retailers are now responding to the opportunity with a flurry [of initiatives] including more online discounts and deals, mobile apps and group buying”.

“We have seen the home pages of retailers shift from focusing on product range to discount specials, either through a dedicated clearance page, daily deals section, factory seconds lists, or pre-owned goods," said Yip.

Those retailers include Australia’s major consumer electronics and appliances websites, including both clicks-and-mortar and pure-play-online sites.

A quick review conducted by Current.com.au showed that big retailers such as JB Hi-Fi, Betta Electrical, Harvey Norman, Dick Smith, The Good Guys, Bing Lee, Appliances Online and Big Brown Box all offer some form of online deal to consumers – including ‘deal of the day’ sales, clearance ranges, online-only pricing, bonus offers and direct import discounts.

For Current's full guide to clicks-and-mortar in the industry, click here.

Following the launch of JB Hi-Fi's Direct Import micro-site last year, the company now has an online-only Factory Scoop page.

Betta Electrical's "Club Betta" offers special monthly deals and promotions.

Harvey Norman has seperate websites for direct import gaming products and daily deals.

Dick Smith offers a daily deal to consumers on its website.

A weekly deal from The Good Guys.

Bing Lee's Terrific Tuesday microsite offers discount deals every Tuesday. 

The Clearance Section of the Appliances Online website, with discounts on limited stock products.

Big Brown Box's "Warehouse Clearance" offering. Like Appliances Online, Big Brown Box is owned by Winning Appliances.