Roy Morgan’s annual Christmas retail sales forecasts, conducted in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association, suggest Australians will spend nearly $51.5 billion across retail stores during the 46-day Christmas trading period from 9 November to 24 December. This is 2.9% than the $50 billion of retail expenditure during the 2017 Christmas trading period. Growth in retail expenditure is predicted across all six categories measured, with spending on Food expected to grow the fastest (3.7%) from a year ago to nearly $21 billion and Hospitality businesses (up 3.2% to over $7.3bn) and Apparel & Household Goods (up 3.1% to $4 billion) also expected to experience solid growth:
However, department stores will continue to struggle, as evident by Myer’s sales collapse.
