Aussies continue sales spend-up

AUSSIE shoppers are continuing to spend up a storm in the post-Christmas sales, with retailers around the country on track to take $16.8 billion from Boxing Day until January 15, according to figures by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan Research.

ARA executive director, Russell Zimmerman, said consumers have embraced the annual post-Christmas and January sales this year, taking the opportunity to stock up on bargains not normally seen at other times of the year.

“While the annual Christmas sales period officially kicked on Boxing Day, we’ve seen shoppers continue their spending frenzy right throughout the period and into the New Year,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“While initially on December 26 we saw bigger ticket items walking off the shelves, now the focus has swapped to soft goods such as apparel and footwear, while household items have also been popular.

“Department stores have also had particularly strong foot traffic, with our figures anticipating a 4.7 percent increase for the category compared to last year,” he said.

Around $1 billion is set to be spent in department stores before January 15, second only in growth to the ‘other’ category, with will grow by 6.1 percent to $2.3 billion.

Food spending, which was boosted last week by shoppers stocking up on food and beverages for New Year’s Eve parties and holiday barbeques is on target to meet an expected $6.8 billion in purchases.

Victoria will see the lion’s share of the post-Christmas shopping growth, up 5.6 percent to $4.2 billion across the 21-day period tracked by ARA and Roy Morgan, followed by NSW at 3.8 percent growth and $5.3 billion.

“It’s great to see shoppers out in force at retail stores, in what is typically the busiest spending period of the year,” Mr Zimmerman said.

ARA ROY MORGAN POST-CHRISTMAS 2015/16 SALES PREDICTIONS

December 26, 2015 – January 15, 2016

2015/16 Post-Christmas Sales Growth by State

State	2014 post-xmas Actual ($mil)		2015/16 post-xmas Forecast ($mil)	Predicted growth (%)
NSW	5127	5321		3.8%
Victoria	3997	4220		5.6%
Queensland	3309	3419		3.3%
South Australia	1049	1083		3.3%
Western Australia	1877	1943		3.5%
Tasmania	316	324		2.6%
Northern Territory	172	176		2.1%
Australian Capital Territory	288	295		2.6%
NATIONAL	16135	16781		4.0%

(ARA/ROY MORGAN)

2015/16 Post-Christmas Sales Growth by Category

Category	2014 pre-xmas Actual ($mil)	2015/16 pre-xmas Forecast ($mil)	Predicted growth (%)
Food	6593	6815	3.4%
Household goods	2796	2905	3.9%
Apparel	1243	1291	3.9%
Department stores	1042	1087	4.3%
Other	2192	2326	6.1%
Hospitality	2269	2357	3.9%
NATIONAL	16135	16781	4.0%

(ARA/ROY MORGAN)

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $284 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information,

Visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

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