Business

ABS retail data shows hardware performed strongly while electronics struggled pre-Christmas

Shoppers shelled out on clothes, hardware items and takeaway food in the lead-up to Christmas but shied away from recreational and electrical goods, figures show. 

Retail sales grew an uninspiring 3.3 per cent in November, compared with the same month in 2015, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data released on Tuesday.

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Despite the shutdown of Woolworths' Masters homeware chain, the hardware category led the way, with spending up 10.2 per cent on the same month in 2015, while the rise of online food delivery services such as UberEats and Deliveroo boosted spending on takeaway food services by 9.9 per cent.

Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), also highlighted clothing as a strongly performing category.

"With the warmer weather approaching and Christmas around the corner, consumers appeared to have hit the shops to update their wardrobes with the early summer fashion trends," he said.

Overall, the national turnover of $25.7 billion in November was dragged down by the disappointing performance of recreational goods, down by 4.1 per cent, department stores, down by 3.21 per cent, and electrical and electronic goods, down by 3.04 per cent.

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Despite this, Mr Zimmerman said retailers remained hopeful the ARA and Roy Morgan-predicted pre-Christmas sales figure of $48.1 billion over the Christmas trading period (November 15 to December 24, 2016) would be achieved.

"We won't be able to confirm the actual pre-Christmas spend until December retail figures are released next month," he said.

"However, after speaking with retailers across the country, many reported a strong start to Christmas sales in November due to many consumers getting on top of their holiday shopping early."

He pointed out that liquor sales grew 4.85 per cent year-on-year, which probably reflected the fact consumers were spending more time outdoors and enjoying the good weather.

NSW was the strongest state, growing 4.25 per cent year-on-year, while other states remained steady.

The mining jurisdictions, Western Australia (-0.57 per cent) and Northern Territory (0.31 per cent), reflected a weakness in sales because of the downturn in resources.

"Though these figures don't necessarily reflect Christmas sales, they generally provide a strong indication as to what we can expect for retail sales over the festive season," Mr Zimmerman said.

"I'm confident December figures will prove to be strong as many consumers, including myself, usually leave their Christmas shopping until the last minute."