The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) has bumped up its pre-Christmas spending forecasts by another two billion, now predicting a record $66 billion will be spent in the November to December Christmas trading period.
The ARA holiday sales predictions with Roy Morgan forecast a record-breaking spend in the lead up to Christmas which is up 6.4% on last year’s spending.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra said higher numbers are driven largely by price increases as well as stronger food and hospitality spending, as Aussies enjoy their post-pandemic experiences.
“These are great results, however, it’s important to acknowledge that price increases are a factor in these numbers and are also driving Australians to spend to get in ahead of inflation.
“Aussies truly plan to eat, drink and be merry this Christmas. It’s no surprise we are seeing a shift towards food and entertaining with the holiday period over the past two years spent in the shadow of lockdowns,” he said. “The news couldn’t come at a better time for the hospitality sector who have endured more pain than most businesses through the pandemic.”
Out of the states and territories, NSW, Victoria and Queensland have driven most of the projected spike in spending. New South Wales is set to record a 20.8 billion spend (up 7.7%), followed by Victoria with 17.1 billion (up 5.2%), with Queensland spending predicted to top 13.5 billion (up 6.8%).
