National retail spending saw 2.8 per cent growth year-on-year in September 2016, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics trade figures.
The monthly retail turnover rose 0.6 per cent in September, led by an increase in household goods purchases.
Total retail spending rose to $25.3 billion in September, from the $25.1 billion in August, ABS data shows.
In seasonally adjusted terms, figures show a 2.3 per cent rise in household goods retailing; followed by cafe and restaurant spending, up one per cent; food retailing 0.2 per cent and department stores 0.5 per cent. There were falls in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, down 0.6 per cent; and other retailing 0.1 per cent.
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were rises in New South Wales (0.8 per cent), Victoria (0.6 per cent), Queensland (0.5 per cent), Western Australia (0.5 per cent), South Australia (0.3 per cent), the Northern Territory (1.2 per cent), Tasmania (0.4 per cent) and the Australian Capital Territory (0.3 per cent).
“We understand that these strong figures may not be the reality for all retailers in all parts of the state, but they are a good platform for the upcoming Christmas period,” said Dominique Lamb, NRA CEO.
Lamb said they are forecasting Christmas 2016 to be better than last year’s results in every state and territory, with the larger states leading the way.
“In specific sectors, we are expecting speciality items and apparel to continue their strong performance of late, and we think department stores will rebound after a sluggish first half to 2016,” Lamb said.
She added the biggest increase is expected in Queensland, which is on track for an increase of six per cent at over $9.3 billion, in part due to the NRA’s efforts to relax the state’s restrictive trading laws in the run up to Christmas.
Online retail turnover contributed 3.5 per cent to total retail turnover in original terms.
In seasonally adjusted volume terms, turnover fell 0.1 per cent in the September quarter 2016, following a rise of 0.3 per cent in the June quarter 2016. The main contributors to this fall were food retailing (-0.7 per cent) and department stores (-3.6 per cent).
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