Just before the recent Covid restrictions, lockdowns and border closures Australian retail recorded a steady rise in sales for the month of May, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Figures show sales rose by 0.4 per cent for the month and by 7.7 per cent compared to May 2020.
Australian Retailers Association (ARA) CEO, Paul Zahra, says that while retail sales remain on a positive trajectory for now, state-imposed lockdowns are having an impact on spending and confidence.
“It’s pleasing to see retail sales tracking well overall, however, we’re yet to see the full impact of the state-imposed lockdowns we’ve seen recently across multiple jurisdictions,” he says.
“The next two months of data is set to be a mixed bag across the states with businesses across NSW, Queensland, Western Australia and the NT impacted by lockdowns and restrictions as new Covid cases emerged in the community.
“There have been over 50 days of state-imposed lockdowns this year alone and it’s small businesses and casual workers that are most severely impacted without a JobKeeper style safety net.”
NRA CEO Dominique Lamb adds that the figures show that when the economy is relatively open that business is going well, but as the recent spate of state lockdowns has shown there remains uncertainty.
“Retailers understand the need to keep the public safe but even short lockdowns can have a massive effect on the economy,” she explains.
“While the May ABS figures are very good, we’re likely to see less promising results in June and July.”
Zahra says the year-on-year results for May were mixed across the major categories of retail.
“When comparing May 2021 to May 2020, spending on food retailing (which includes supermarkets, grocery stores, and liquor retailing) was down 1.2 per cent, household goods was down 5.5 per cent, clothing, footwear and personal accessories was up 46.3 per cent, department stores were down 4.7 per cent, while cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services were up 62.6 per cent.
“The vast bulk of retail spending continues to be made in stores, with online sales representing 9.1 per cent of total sales in May 2021.”
