It is 49 days until Christmas and you may have noticed that many shops have the Christmas gear out already – thankfully, they don’t seem to be playing Christmas carols. Yet.
But contrary to the expectations of many, the retail sector has a bit of bounce in their step with a small but nonetheless discernible increase in sales nationally in September which is giving them great hope for the Christmas season.
“Retailers have seen 3.6 per cent increase in annual terms with the release of these numbers. If the pace of growth continues through to end of the year we can anticipate 5 per cent rise over 2012 – the best result since 2008,” said the CEO of the Retailers Association, Margy Osmond.
“This is particularly important considering September was a month without a cash rate cut or Government stimulus.”
Mrs Osmond said household goods had a 1.2 per cent rise in September followed by other retailing, which includes pharmacy and newsagents, and food.
She said figures are less buoyant for the discretionary end of the sector, such as clothing.
“Where people don’t have to spend they are still choosing not to and that will cause many to press pause on announcing a sector recovery just yet.
“But any boost to household goods retailing is welcomed across the sector as an indicator people are loosening their purse strings, feeling confident enough to buy larger items."
Mrs Osmond said all areas of Australia enjoyed an increase in sales in September.
With retailers very keen to attract shoppers over the next eight weeks in the countdown till Christmas, you can expect even more enticements and perhaps earlier sale items, than usual.
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