The number of parcels being delivered to Wodonga homes in the past three years alone is almost double the national growth rate.

Australia Post says seven out of 10 packages are the result of internet buying with bank statistics suggesting more than half of those are from overseas.

Albury, too, is above the average with a 15  per cent growth rate, compared with 11 per cent nationally.

And while experts say “bricks and mortar” shopping will survive, they also admit online shopping is likely to double before long.

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At present, it accounts for about 5 per cent of Australian retailing. In the US and Europe, the figure is pushing towards 10 per cent.

An Australia Post spokesman said online buying was expected to grow from about $27 billion last year to almost $37 billion in the next two years.

“In Wodonga, parcel volumes have increased by 25 per cent in three years,” he said.

“In Albury it is 15 per cent.

“Seventy per cent of our parcel business is generated from online shopping and this area is continuing to grow.”

Border shoppers say they are switching allegiance for cost and convenience reasons.

And while some Albury-Wodonga businesses are reaping the benefits of e-trade, others say they are suffering through “unfair competition”.

The Australian National Retailers? Association, which represent the likes of Harvey Norman, Coles, Bunnings and other big- name traders, says books, music, clothing, cosmetics and small electronic retailers are most at risk.

The Commonwealth Bank this week released details of its customers’ buying habits with those under 29 the most prolific online shoppers.

But internet shopping is not limited by age.

Albury’s David Dow, 62, said the internet was convenient and cheap.