The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan believe Aussies will continue their summer shopping long after Christmas day, predicting consumers to spend $17.9 billion nationwide from December 26, 2017 to January 15, 2018 and forecasting shoppers to increase their post-Christmas spend by 2.9%.
Russell Zimmerman, Executive Director of the ARA, said he is looking forward to a substantial post-Christmas trade as bargain hunters seek out both online and physical retailers for the best deals across the industry.
“Traditionally pre-Christmas sales are an exciting time for retailers, however, post-Christmas sales are that extra cherry on top for many retailers trying to increase their yearly sales and meet targets before they head into the new year,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“With Amazon’s recent Australia launch, we are certain that online retail will be a driving force for post-Christmas sales with the ARA and Roy Morgan forecasting the Other Retailing category to increase by more than 4% this year.”
According to the ARA and Roy Morgan’s Annual Post-Christmas Trading Predictions, Other Retailing, Food Retailing and Hospitality Retailing will see the biggest sales growth across the industry this year.
“We are expecting Food Retailing to see a 3.4% spike in sales during the post-Christmas trading period, as many food retailers will be discounting their fresh produce post-Christmas for families spending time at home during the holidays,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“Our in-depth research with Roy Morgan also forecasts a 2.8% increase for Hospitality Retailing, as market research has identified the summer holidays are an exciting time for Australians to celebrate the end of the year with their friends at cafés and bars across the country.”
New South Wales will see the strongest post-Christmas sales growth with the ARA and Roy Morgan predicting the region to spend almost $6 billion after Christmas; a 4.2% increase in New South Wales sales from last year.
“We are also expecting Victorian retailers to see a 3.3% spike in post-Christmas sales this year as Victoria is the fashion capital of Australia,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“South Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory are also likely to receive a substantial increase in post-Christmas sales, as Australians across the country will be seeking retail bargains both online and in-store.”
Every year, the ARA proudly partners with Roy Morgan Research to deliver the only professionally researched retail figures in the industry, with proven year-on-year results.
“Although there have been various disruptions to the Australian retail market throughout the year, we look forward to seeing our pre-Christmas and post-Christmas predictions come to fruition when the retail trade figures are released in the new year,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“With online retail accounting for more than 7% of total retail sales, we urge retailers to understand the new technologies available to them, including Roy Morgan’s new Audiences tool which assists retailers in measuring their digital audiences in peak shopping periods like post-Christmas trade.”
To view the ARA and Roy Morgan’s Annual Pre-Christmas Sales Predictions for 2017 please click here and for more insights into the Australian retail market and your businesses specifically, view Roy Morgan Audiences today.
ARA and Roy Morgan Research post-Christmas sales predictions
December 26, 2017 – January 15, 2018
2017/2018 Post-Christmas sales growth by category
| State | 2016 Post-Christmas actual results ($mil) | 2017 Forecast Post-Christmas sales ($mil) | Predicted Growth |
| FOOD | 7027 | 7267 | 3.40% |
| HH GOODS | 3015 | 3075 | 1.98% |
| APPAREL | 1381 | 1400 | 1.33% |
| DEPARTMENT STORES | 1044 | 1062 | 1.73% |
| OTHER | 2465 | 2564 | 4.02% |
| HOSPITALITY | 2455 | 2525 | 2.85% |
| NATIONAL | 17387 | 17892 | 2.90% |
2017/2018 Post-Christmas sales growth by state
| State | 2016 Post-Christmas actual results ($mil) | 2017 Forecast Post-Christmas sales ($mil) | Predicted Growth |
| NSW | 5593 | 5828 | 4.20% |
| VIC | 4384 | 4528 | 3.28% |
| QLD | 3501 | 3566 | 1.85% |
| SA | 1139 | 1171 | 2.86% |
| WA | 1927 | 1935 | 0.39% |
| TAS | 346 | 356 | 2.91% |
| NT | 178 | 180 | 1.19% |
| ACT | 320 | 329 | 2.83% |
| NATIONAL | 17387 | 17892 | 2.90% |
Article Source: Australian Retailers Association/ ROY MORGAN
