Household goods retailing rose 0.2 per cent in October, however, retail continues to face challenges as we enter the busy Christmas period.
According to Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) figures, retail remained unchanged in October at 0.0 per cent seasonally adjusted.
National Retail Association (NRA) CEO Dominique Lamb says the October figures underline what a trying year 2019 has been for retail.
“Despite tax cuts and interest rate drops, today’s figures show that consumer confidence has remained low,” she says.
“The good news though is that feedback we have received so far is that the Christmas trade period is acting as the circuit breaker needed to turn things around.”
Indeed, last weekend with Black Friday and Cyber Monday on either end was the busiest weekend of the year so far, with Aussie shoppers spending more than $5 billion.
“For the first time ever, Black Friday was the busiest day of the year for online spend, demonstrating that the event is picking up more momentum each year.”
Discretionary spending has been the big issue in 2019, but with shoppers descending on shopping centres for Black Friday, feedback has been that people are finally opening their purses.
“Early signs are that the slow retail sales experienced for much of 2019 has not transitioned into the Christmas period,” she adds.
