Australians have been on a national spending spree for most of the year. In recent weeks, expert forecasts have predicted that the good times are set to continue until the end of year, with purchasing predictions of $6.2 billion during Black Friday sales and more than $60 billion over the Christmas period.
October was another bumper month for retailers, according to Mastercard SpendingPulse, which tracks in-store and online sales across all types of payments.
By contrast to the same month last year, retail sales in October surged 12.9 per cent and were up 28.2 per cent on pre-pandemic levels.
All retail categories joined in the bonanza to deliver the ninth straight month of sales growth. Jewellery sales were up 41.1 per cent, followed by apparel/fashion (+40%), electronics (+30.5%) and home furnishings (+21.5%).
Retail performance this year continues to be outstanding, despite a dramatic drop in consumer confidence due to inflation, said Paul Zahra, CEO of the Australian Retailers Association (ARA).
“It’s encouraging to see categories like lodging and apparel bounce back from the dramatic setbacks of the pandemic with the continued strength of jewellery sales demonstrating the resilience of luxury retail.
“This strong sales momentum bodes well for the most important retail trading period – Christmas – which we are forecasting will continue to deliver growth. The ARA holiday sales predictions with Roy Morgan show Australians will spend nearly $64 billion in the lead-up to Christmas – up 3 per cent on last year.”
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