Christmas spending projections for week 4: ANRA

RETAILERS are predicting the next seven days to be the biggest of the year as shoppers move their Christmas preparations into top gear, according to weekly Christmas spending projections released by the Australian National Retailers’ Association (ANRA) today.

“Despite consumer confidence readings suggesting a cautious community, more people have returned to retail in the last 12 months and delivered growth to the sector and the economy more broadly. This incremental growth will assist the sector in contributing a little more than four per cent to Australia’s GDP this year,” ANRA CEO Anna McPhee said.

Ms McPhee said more than $8.3 billion is expected to be spent nationally this week with the average family anticipated to spend about $1,060 on Christmas preparations including gifts, food, liquor and dining.

“Consumer spending is important for the national economy and it is encouraging that retail sales are expected to surge by around 10 per cent compared to last week with Australian shoppers anticipated to spend about $750 million more than the previous week.

“To prepare for the Christmas rush, the retail sector has employed approximately 39,000 additional staff this December as well as providing existing staff with extra shifts to support demand throughout this busy period.  The retail sector employs over 1.2 million Australians.

"Many retailers will offer extended trading hours over the next 10 days to meet heightened customer demand across the peak period. The extension of trading hours in the lead up to Christmas has been particularly successful in previous years and highlights how consumer expectations are changing.  Consumers want to be able to shop at times that are convenient,” she said.

ANRA’s survey of Christmas shoppers looked at Christmas shopping tactics between men and women and found differences in their approaches.

“Twice as many men than women expect to do most of their Christmas shopping between now and Christmas – with just under one in four men admitting they’ll probably do most of their shopping quite close to Christmas.

“Our survey showed women take a much more structured approach to Christmas shopping with one in four shopping throughout the year – compared to just 16 per cent of men. Women are also around twice as likely to buy fun things like toys (15% vs 8%) and more-so experiences (6% vs 2%).

“Christmas shoppers told us they will be shopping primarily for immediate family (81%). While 18 per cent admitted to buying a gift for themselves and 15 per cent said a gift for the family pet was also on the Christmas to-do list,” said Ms McPhee.

This year ANRA estimates $32.6 billion will be spent on gifts, food, liquor and dining. Shopping with Australian retailers online and in store supports Australian businesses, jobs and local communities. 

The below table provides a breakdown by state for the 30 days to Christmas (24-Nov to 24-Dec) and spending in the fourth week (15-Dec to 21-Dec):

 

	NSW	VIC	QLD	SA	WA	TAS	NT	ACT	TOTAL
Total (million)	$10,559.8	$8,146.8	$6,554.5	$2,149.5	$3,721.4	$637.9	$307.1	$571.1	$32,648.1
Week 4 (million)	$2,612.0	$2,155.0	$1,683.2	$572.0	$934.9	$155.9	$72.5	$147.5	$8,333.0

www.anra.com.au

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