Retailers to See Uplift in Post-Christmas Sales

After predicting Australians would spend a whopping $51 billion over the festive season this year, the ARA and Roy Morgan believe retailers will see a further 3.1 percent uplift in year-on-year sales between December 26, 2018 and January 15, 2019. This is expected to equate to $18.3 billion in spending, nation-wide.

Russell Zimmerman, the executive director of the ARA believes this growth will be attributed to the Boxing Day sales being offered by retailers online and in-store.

“With Christmas being the peak season for trade, pre-Christmas sales have always been a busy time for retailers. However, post-Christmas sales are the opportune time for retailers to achieve their yearly sales targets prior to the New Year commencing,” Zimmerman said.

He also believes that online retailers will see a decent chunk of this post-Christmas spend, as consumers look for a bargain, minus the crowds that can be found in shopping centres at this time of year. “As the ‘Other retailing’ category is set to experience a 2.9 percent increase in growth over the post-Christmas period, the ARA and Roy Morgan foresee a large proportion of consumers heading online to take advantage of the generous discounts retailers have to offer,” he said.

The food and apparel categories are expected to see the largest growth post-Christmas, with businesses predicted to see a 3.8 percent growth as people prepare for the New Year, and Sydneysiders are expected to spend the most, contributing an estimated $5.9 billion to the country’s overall spending. Victoria will also be high up there, with the ARA and Roy Morgan predicting the state will have the highest proportional growth with a 5.5 percent increase in sales YOY.

“Although New South Wales are dominating this year in terms of total spend, Victoria and Tasmania should prove to be fierce contenders in overall growth terms during the post-Christmas sales, which will hopefully translate well into the New Year,” Zimmerman said.

It seems retailers are slowly starting to hint at their Boxing Day sales as the 25^th draws closer, with NET-A-PORTER offering up to 50 percent off, Topshop/Topman offering up to 60 percent off and Rebecca Vallance offering up to 50 percent off.

“While the Australian retail landscape has faced various challenges throughout the 2018 year, we anticipate our pre-Christmas and post-Christmas predictions will be fulfilled and reflected next year through the arrival of ABS trade figures for December and January.”

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