Inside Retail presents the Australian Retail Index.

The index gives a quick overview of retail statistics in four key categories; fashion and accessories, furniture and homewares, sporting and recreational, and other.

Key retail statistics are shown weekly, with yearly comparisons available.

Overall retail sales have continued to hold steady with a very minor 0.33 per cent decrease in growth from the previous week.

Sales growth in overall retail sales over the last seven weeks has been very consistent with no major fluctuations in the index.

Individual sectors have however shown inconsistent results, particularly for fashion and accessories retailers, with a week of positive gains (1.19 per cent) followed by a week of losses (5.10 per cent).

The furniture and homewares sector posted a surprise drop in sales growth of 4.58 per cent which was unexpected given the very positive growth seen in the same week in 2014.

The sporting and recreational goods sector has been the most consistent performer, with last week’s 4.39 per cent figure being the third straight week of sales growth.