The Australian retail sector has now well and truly turned into the final strait before Santa rides his sleigh into town and the NRA is forecasting it to be a sales bonanza.
As revealed last week, the NRA is predicting Australians to splurge over $17.8 billion in the 10 days before Christmas. The final days before December 25 are always incredibly busy, with shoppers descending on stores for everything from last-minute purchases to picking out what to eat on the big day itself.
We are finding that Australians are tending to now leave their shopping until closer to Christmas Day in comparison to previous years. To put this into context, more than one-third of total spending during the Christmas trade period (half of November and all of December) takes place in the 10-day window between December 15-24. So don’t expect things to quieten down in the coming days!
With extended trading hours in place across much of the country, make sure you take advantage of the more flexible opening and closing times. Many shoppers will look to make their Christmas purchases either earlier in the day or during the evening in order to avoid massive crowds.
As the final CEO Message for the year I’d like to thank you for your support of the NRA in 2018 and take this opportunity to wish you all the best over the coming days and a Merry Christmas to you and your family!
| STATE | 2018 10-day countdown forecast (Dec 15-24) |
| NSW | $5.8 Billion |
| VIC | $4.7 Billion |
| QLD | $3.4 Billion |
| SA | $1.2 Billion |
| WA | $1.9 Billion |
| TAS | $351 Million |
| NT | $149 Million |
| ACT | $318 Million |
| TOTAL | $17.8 Billion |
| ONLINE SALES | 2018 10-day countdown forecast (Dec 15-24) |
| Pure-play Online | $387 Million |
| Multi-Channel Online | $683 Million |
| TOTAL | $1.07 Billion |
For further information on any queries you may have regarding the Christmas trade period, please do not hesitate to contact the NRA at 1800 RETAIL (738 245).