‘Heartening’: Australian retail sales increase 3.8 per cent in January

Australian retail sales showed improvement in January, with all categories generating positive growth.

According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), retail sales in the first month of the year increased 3.8 per cent to $37.08 billion from the year-ago period.

Other retailing, which includes cosmetics, sports and recreational goods, saw the highest sales growth of 7 per cent as turnover reached $5.90 billion.

Clothing, footwear, accessories  rose 4.5 per cent to $3.07 billion while cafes, restaurants, takeaway  grew 3.8 per cent to $5.58 billion.

Food climbed 3.1 per cent to $14.69 billion, and department stores jumped 2.9 per cent to $1.93 billion. Household goods totalled $5.91 billion, reflecting the lowest category growth rate of 2.5 per cent.

“Consumers bought furniture and electrical goods in earlier months to take advantage of the large discounts on offer,” said Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics.

Among the states, WA had the highest sales increase of 5.5 per cent, followed by Victoria   at 5 per cent.

“Looking ahead, whilst these results are heartening, retail is far from out of the woods,” said Fleur Brown, Australian Retailers Association (ARA) chief industry affairs officer.

“Cost-of-living pressures remain acute, and it will likely remain a challenging year for retail.”

Brown noted that the Reserve Bank of Australia’s decision in April will be important in shaping the trading environment.

Similarly, National Retail Association interim CEO Lindsay Carroll said that the data seem promising, but retail conditions remain tough.

“Ahead of the federal election, we are calling on all sides of government to come in on a unity ticket to bolster Australian businesses,” said Carroll, noting the need for policies that help encourage digital transformation in small to medium businesses.

“Not all businesses have the time or resources to navigate complex regulatory environments. Governments need to cut red tape around compliance measures, especially for small business owners, so they can work on the business and not in the business.”

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