The rain-producing effects of the La Nina weather event on the eastern states and the Omicron Covid variant weren’t as damaging to January retail sales as initially forecast.
According to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-store and online retail sales across all forms of payment, retail sales nationwide increased 4.9 per cent in January, by contrast to the same month in 2021. A result that also exceeded January 2020 figures by 14.4 per cent.
Household goods were the star performer – up 10.4 per cent in January compared to the same period a year earlier. Clothing sales also rose 8.5 per cent and food retailing spiked 4.9 per cent.
Following the longest lockdowns in the country, Victoria experienced the biggest uplift in retail sales of 8.3 per cent in January. NSW saw a rise of 3.4 per cent, backed by Queensland (+4.5%), WA (+5.1%), Tasmania (+6.6%), ACT (1.7%), NT (+2.5%) and SA (+0.5%).
January was an up and down month for retailers, says Paul Zahra, CEO of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA). “We began the year with a surge of Omicron cases, which impacted local supply chains and forced tens of thousands of workers into isolation each day.
“However, towards the end of the month, we saw daily caseloads start to come down, close contact isolation requirements were eased for essential workers and consumer spending started to lift. Overall, we’ve had a soft landing from Omicron and the impacts on sales have not been as severe as we originally feared.”
Staff shortages, supply chain issues and the slow revival of the CBD areas in major capital cities are still major hurdles, notes Zahra. “Retailers have been resilient throughout the pandemic and will be breathing a sigh of relief that the worst of Omicron seems to have passed, and that consumer spending has remained fairly upbeat during this challenging period.”