Christmas Sales Projected to Hit $25 Billion

With Christmas well and truly upon us, the stats are in on how much Australian consumers will funnel into the holidays, with comparison site, finder.com.au estimating figures to reach as high as $2.5 billion.

According to the site’s survey of 2,013 respondents, presents will be the number one expense, with women projected to spend more than men, with shopping sprees accumulating an estimated $1,406 worth of goods, compared to men who will reportedly spend $1,241. Of this spend, $464 will be dedicated to gifts, with alcohol also expected to leave a mark, with the average Aussie spending $131 on booze, or $2.5 billion collectively.

Aussies are reportedly allotting roughly $444 on getaways each, while a total of $1 billion is expected to be spent on decorations. Finder.com.au also believes that Australians are a charitable bunch, predicting total expenditure of $1.1 billion on donations.

This news comes within 24-hours of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan releasing their annual pre-Christmas predictions, with their estimate for spending coming in significantly higher than finder.com.au’s at $51 billion across retail stores for the period from November 9 until December 24.

The difference in these sets of figures has been attributed to the ARA’s study including spending on food, while the only form of consumables finder.com.au has looked at is alcohol.

According to Russell Zimmerman, the executive director of the ARA, retail sales will be strong over the festive season.

“With consumer spending on the rise as noted in September’s retail trade figures, the ARA and Roy Morgan are confident that this year’s Christmas sales will remain strong during the festive season, with a 3.67% total year-on-year growth across the retail sector,” he said.

“An estimated $21 billion is expected to be spent on Food this Christmas, which is a 3.7% increase from the previous year and coincides with the consistent figures recorded from this category throughout 2018.”

According to Roy Morgan and the ARA, $4 billion will be spent on apparel, including clothing, footwear and personal accessories, representing a 3.1 percent increase from 2017’s figures. Household goods are also expected to be a key driver in holiday revenue, with sales tipped to reach $9 billion.

Much like retail trade figures from across 2018, a key highlight of the projected sales from both finder.com.au and the ARA/Roy Morgan is online sales, with online gift purchase set to increase by 2.7 percent this year.

“Christmas is a joyous and celebrated event, admired by Australians who embrace the season of giving. With the retail landscape continuing to adapt to changes in the industry, we can rely on this season to bring stability to retailers.

“As the online retail market continues to expand, the ARA are also predicting online gift purchases to increase by 2.7% with Australian shoppers expected to purchase many of their gifts online this year.”

Australia’s figures are vastly different from the United States’, where Adobe has predicted sales from November 1 to December 31 will reach $124 billion online alone.

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