Christmas spending; Bad Santa

Aussies to splurge $14billion in week before Xmas

December 17, 2019
By Alana House

The National Retail Association (NRA) has revealed that Australians are set to splurge $14 billion nationwide in the final week before Christmas.

With just days until Santa rides his sleigh into town, consumers are set to descend on shopping centres across the country in the mad final rush before Christmas Day.

NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said that retailers across the nation were readying themselves for a hectic few days as shoppers make last-minute purchases, stock up on fresh food and cash-in on bargain sales.

“The NRA is expecting the shopping frenzy to really ramp up as we kick-off the seven-day countdown until Christmas,” Lamb said.

“According to our forecasts, Aussies are set to splurge $14 billion in the final seven days as shoppers finalise purchases and bag fresh food for their Christmas Day celebrations.

“After an underwhelming year for retail, the Christmas trade period has so far proven to be a welcome relief. Black Friday was an unprecedented success, with $5 billion spent in the four days to Cyber Monday.”

B&T added: “Despite gloomy predictions, Black Friday was a big success, with online retailer Kogan reporting sales were up 80 per cent on last year, while Amazon Australia enjoyed the biggest shopping day in its history.”

Meanwhile, Commonwealth Bank economist Kristina Clifton told the Sydney Morning Herald that a sample of credit card data showed retail goods spending rose 87% on Black Friday, compared with the three weeks prior.

“We have seen spikes in spending at the time of the Black Friday sales in the previous years but they have been much smaller in size, averaging around 28%,” Clifton said.

As for the peak shopping day in December, Lamb said the best is yet to come.

“We know around December 21 is our peak sales day,” she said. “We know that consumers spend a lot of money on groceries, but also just gifts.”

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