Black Friday boosts Australia’s November retail sales

Australian retail sales saw significant year-on-year increase in November, largely attributed to the Black Friday sales.

“Black Friday sales events proved once again to be a big hit, with widespread discounting and higher spending across all retail industries,” said Robert Ewing, head of business statistics at the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

“The popularity of Black Friday sales continues to grow with promotional activity now stretching across the entire month of November, not just solely focused on the Black Friday weekend.”

November sales jumped 3 per cent to $36.51 billion with other retailing, which includes recreational, sporting goods and cosmetics, leading with a growth rate of 7 per cent as turnover amounted to $5.87 billion.

Cafes, restaurants, and takeaway sales rose 3.6 per cent to $5.57 billion and food sales inched 2.8 per cent higher to $14.62 billion.

Clothing, footwear, and accessories climbed 1.8 per cent to $3.07 billion while household goods improved 1.2 per cent to $5.99 billion.

However, department store sales fell 1.2 per cent to $1.94 billion.

“The growing popularity of Black Friday gave retailers some much-needed reprieve in November with shoppers seeking out bargains amid intense financial pressure,” said Fleur Brown, chief industry affairs officer at the Australian Retailers Association (ARA).

“This bargain hunting focus and a continued trend towards spending on little luxuries and the desire to celebrate the festive season with friends and family strongly contributed to November’s overall spending growth.”

Across all states, Queensland had the highest growth of 4 per cent with sales of $7.68 billion while the ACT stood flat at $685 million.

In October, retail sales amounted to $36.7 billion.

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