Retailers decking the halls with online sales this Christmas
WITH the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan Research predicting Australians to spend more than $50 billion over the Christmas trading period from November 15 to December 24, 2017, the ARA believe online platforms will be a driving force for retail sales this Christmas.
The ARA and Roy Morgan forecast Aussie shoppers to spend over $7 billion in the ‘Other Retailing’ category this festive season, and expect consumers to spend 3.96% more on this category during the Christmas trading period.
Russell Zimmerman, ARA Executive Director, said the ARA’s combined research with Hitwise and Neto have found an overwhelming shift in Australian shoppers turning to online retail platforms during this busy season.
“With online shopping accounting for more than 7% of total retail sales, the ARA and Hitwise saw 12.3 million active consumers use online platforms to finalise their Christmas purchases in 2016,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“Due to the ease and convenience online platforms provide Australian shoppers in the 24-hour marketplace, the ARA estimates online purchases will account for 13% of overall retail sales in the next five years.”
With recent Hitwise data illustrating a 55% year-on-year increase in online visits during Boxing Day 2016, and searches for this year’s Black Friday more than doubling year-on-year, the ARA believe consumers will continue to shift their spending to online platforms.
“As online retail is growing at 5% every year, our recent research with Hitwise illustrates more and more Australians are searching for Christmas gifts online, with electronic devices such as PlayStations, Xboxes and iPads ranking in the top three search terms on eBay this year,” Mr Zimmerman said.
“Search terms for children’s toys and games are also gaining more traction year-on-year with some of the hottest products on eBay during November including Lego, Elf on the Shelf and Nintendo Switch.”
Chris Harley, Head of Research at Hitwise Australia, said Hitwise have seen visits to the ‘Shopping and Classifieds’ industry hit a staggering 1.004 billion visits during November 2017.
“We’ll continue to see strong visitation in this category right up to the 19th/20th December when we see a traditional slight fall in visits due to the impact of customers needing products delivered prior to Christmas.” Mr Harley said.
Ryan Murtagh, Founder and CEO of Neto, said Neto’s latest State of E-Commerce Report identified a significant growth in online gifting this year, with the average retail basket size increasing by 16% in 2017.
“Although 40% of consumers state clothing, shoes, handbags and accessories are their most frequent online purchase, sports and recreation was Australia’s second fastest growing industry in 2017 with average monthly sales growing by 39% this year,” Mr Murtagh said.
“Given the ever-increasing health consciousness of Australians, coupled with the onset of summer, we will likely see a trend towards outdoor and health-centric gifts over Christmas.”
With basket size increasing, and 5,000 merchants now offering Afterpay, Mr Zimmerman said those merchants who offer Buy Now, Pay Later options will have a distinct advantage this Christmas trading period.
“Transactions via Buy Now, Pay Later options have increased by 147% this year, therefore, we can only expect online retail sales to rise during Christmas and throughout the new year,” Mr Zimmerman said.
Follow the links to view ARA and Roy Morgan’s 2017 Annual Pre-Christmas Sales Predictions, Neto’s 2017 State of eCommerce Report and Hitwise’s Pre-Christmas Shopping Trends and Products.
ARA ROY MORGAN PRE-CHRISTMAS SALES PREDICTIONS 2017
November 15 – December 24, 2017
2017 Pre-Christmas Sales Growth by Category
|
State |
2016 Pre-Christmas actual results ($mil) |
2017 Forecast Pre-Christmas sales ($mil) |
Predicted Growth |
|
FOOD |
19643 |
20284 |
3.27% |
|
HH GOODS |
8503 |
8704 |
2.37% |
|
APPAREL |
3869 |
3890 |
0.54% |
|
DEPARTMENT STORES |
2928 |
2957 |
0.99% |
|
OTHER |
6911 |
7184 |
3.96% |
|
HOSPITALITY |
6854 |
7052 |
2.89% |
|
NATIONAL |
48708 |
50073 |
2.80% |
[ARA / ROY MORGAN]
2017 Pre-Christmas Sales Growth by State
|
State |
2016 Pre-Christmas actual results ($mil) |
2017 Forecast Pre-Christmas sales ($mil) |
Predicted Growth |
|
NSW |
15692 |
16265 |
3.65% |
|
VIC |
12267 |
12742 |
3.87% |
|
QLD |
9838 |
9951 |
1.15% |
|
SA |
3164 |
3266 |
3.23% |
|
WA |
5386 |
5434 |
0.89% |
|
TAS |
967 |
996 |
3.01% |
|
NT |
499 |
508 |
1.77% |
|
ACT |
895 |
911 |
1.76% |
|
NATIONAL |
48708 |
50073 |
2.80% |
[ARA / ROY MORGAN]
About the Australian Retailers Association:
Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $310 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. The ARA works to ensure retail success by informing, protecting, advocating, educating and saving money for its 7,500 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.
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