Melbourne - Australia's best shopping

Melbourne still enjoys a massive lead over rival Sydney for a great shopping experience.

Victoria's capital city has crushed Sydney in a national survey and is Australia's favourite shopping destination for the second consecutive year.

The Shop Til You Drop magazine survey of 3,000 shoppers has found 73 percent hailed Melbourne as Australia's best shopping area.

Following in Melbourne's wake came Sydney (23%) then Brisbane, Perth, the Gold Coast and Adelaide.

Shop Til You Drop deputy editor Danielle DeGail said Melbourne offered an experience that other cities couldn't match.

It also had many more city fashion precincts such as Chapel Street, South Yarra, Flinders Lane and also emerging areas such as High Street, Armadale.

"Melbourne is still seen as the fashion capital because there's so many boutiques there and lots of different areas," Ms DeGail said.

"It has really got a bit of an international feel, in the little lanes you could almost be in Rome, but you're in Melbourne."

Melbourne is also home to the southern hemisphere's largest shopping malls.

Myers won the award for best customer service and the best retail chain, frockshop was the best online store, and the best lifestyle/home store was Ikea.

Click here to learn about the new, detailed report - Where to Live in Melbourne.