What does the falling Australian dollar mean for our online shopping habits?

Does the low dollar mean we shouldn’t shop online anymore?

The Australian dollar is already suffering, having fallen to its lowest ebb in six years.

It’s not finished yet, either. Today economists warned that there’s no end in sight for its descent and predict that it will sink to US 60 cents by the end of 2016, and even go as low as 50 cents after that.

Of course, a falling dollar means overseas travel will be more expensive and fuel prices will go up, but let’s just cut to the chase, shall we?

What does it mean for online shopping?

With the dollar buying 30 cents in the dollar less than it did last year, it’s not looking rosy for your ShopBop/UrbanOutfitters/Anthropologie/Net-a-Porter wishlists.

We’ve been reaping the rewards of a strong dollar, no GST and free shipping for years. We got cocky. Now we’re being punished.

The party’s over, my friends. A moment of silence, please, for all those empty virtual shopping carts.

If you’re at the Amazon checkout buying that new and very necessary shower-gel dispenser shaped like a human nose, you’re going to feel the effects of our crap dollar immediately.

However, there is a small ray of sunshine amid all this retail doom and gloom.

Local retailers will most certainly pass on the price increases to the customers, but the exchange rate can take a lot longer to pass through the retail chain to reach us.

In short, local bricks-and-mortar shops as well as online retailers will generally be cheaper than their overseas counterparts for us.

Here are some to get you started.

The Grand Social Originally located in a bricks-and-mortar store in Sydney’s Surry Hills, this place has great up-and-coming Australian and New Zealand designers.

Bird Motel Local cool stuff like Minty Meets Munt, Tigerlily and Nookie.

Maximillia Lots of interesting local and international designers — Karen Walker, Dion Lee, Bec & Bridge, oh my.