Retail turnover rose 0.3% in August after a flat July (0.0%), according to the latest data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing rose 0.8%, Other retailing increased 0.4% and Department stores jumped 0.9% for the period.
In terms of retail turnover geographically (seasonally adjusted), South Australia led the charge, increasing 0.8% in August, followed by Tasmania at 0.6%, New South Wales at 0.5%, Victoria and the ACT at 0.2%, while Western Australia remained flat and the Northern Territory declined 1.3%.
Online retail turnover contributed 5.6 per cent to the total retail turnover in August, a jump of 0.1% compared to July 2018. This time last year, online retail turnover contributed 4.6 per cent to the total.
Executive director of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), Russell Zimmerman, said that consumer confidence could be seen returning across the varying retail categories in August.
“Clothing, footwear and personal accessories saw a strong 4% year-on-year growth this August as some confidence returned to consumers after receiving their tax refunds.
“This quiet consumer confidence can be seen across various retail categories with consumers rewarding themselves with little luxuries across the market.
“Department stores saw solid growth in August with this retail category reaching 2% year-on-year growth - the biggest increase they’ve seen since May this year.”
However, acting National Retail Association (NRA) CEO Lindsay Carroll, said that retailers shouldn't get comfortable with these results before the Christmas trade.
“The August ABS retail figures are far from disastrous, but they do show that the sector is continuing to experience a modest sales period.
“The August report is certainly an improvement on July, with five of the six retail industries recording a rise in turnover, and all state and territories bar the Northern Territory seeing an increase in sales.
“Given this is the weakest back-to-back monthly sales result for the whole of 2018, it’s very important that we don’t get complacent ahead of the most important period of the year, especially with increases to Saturday and evening penalty rates being phased-in for casual employees in retail from November 01,” she said.
To read the full ABS report, click here.