retail sales

Apple’s new release has been credited with boosting retail sales.

The release of Apple’s iPhone X and the Black Friday shopping event have been credited with boosting retail sales in the lead up to Christmas.

Figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) show Australian retail turnover rose 1.2 per cent to $26.4 billion, seasonally adjusted, in November 2017.

The surge followed a 0.5 per cent rise in October and was led by household goods (4.5 per cent) and ‘other’ retailing (2.2 per cent).

Ben James of the ABS said the launch of the new iPhone and the increasingly popularity of sales events like Black Friday influenced the numbers.

There were also rises for clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (1.6 per cent) and cafes, restaurants and takeaways (0.4 per cent). Department stores fell (-1.1 per cent) while food was unchanged.

The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) executive director Russell Zimmerman said he was confident the December figures would show more growth.

Roy Morgan Research and the ARA forecast a 2.8 per cent increase in pre-Christmas sales, predicting consumers would spend $50 billion in retail stores across the country from 15 November to 24 December. Zimmerman said the November numbers made him more confident that the industry would get close to this figure.

“From what we’ve heard from our members so far, we think the overall Christmas trade will be reasonably strong with many big retailers seeing their biggest growth in their online sales,” he said.

 

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