With barely three weeks until Santa rides into town, the Christmas trade period has well and truly hit full swing. For the first time ever, it’s anticipated that Black Friday will go down as the busiest day of the year for online sales in Australia. But not all the action was online, with consumers also descending on shopping centres in search of bargain prices.
And of course, the spending spree was topped off with Cyber Monday, making the four days nothing short of a shopping extravaganza. Indeed, we anticipate that a whopping $5 billion was spent on retail sales across the 96-hour period.
This further underlines a growing trend when it comes to Christmas shopping – that consumers are increasingly doing it earlier. Events such as Black Friday and Cyber Monday enable shoppers to knock off Christmas shopping well in advance of the big day itself while also taking advantage of bargain prices.
ABS figures from last year demonstrate a marked increase in November sales and we anticipate that when November 2019’s results are published early next year we will see another large spike in activity.
Moreover, what makes popular sales events such as Black Friday important is that it’s not just outlets slashing their prices who benefit. As shoppers stampede into shopping centres they don’t just purchase Christmas presents, they also indulge in discretionary spending activities such as having a coffee at an on-site café or going grocery shopping. So there is a positive knock-on effect that spreads beyond just stores who partake in Black Friday.
As we begin to count down the days until December 25, we’re optimistic that the momentum generated by these sales events will continue for the remainder of the year. As always, if you have any feedback on how your business is going in the lead up to Christmas then please don’t hesitate in letting us know.
All the best for the week ahead!