Retailers jumping for joy with June trade figures

THE Australian Retailers Association (ARA) believes June trade figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) represent a fair trade for the end of financial year, with a 2.87 percent total growth year-on-year.

Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the ARA, said this positive growth is mostly due to the strong trade in Clothing, footwear and personal accessories and Food retailing.

“Winter finally hit in June as we saw the Clothing, footwear and personal accessories category grow by 5.26 percent year-on-year,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“Food retailing also saw a yummy result, growing 4.31 percent in June with supermarkets making a tasty comeback by having their strongest growth since June last year.”

With the new financial year in mind, consumers increased their spend in the Specialised food (6.05%) and Liquor (4.72%) sub-categories, which showed solid growth for the month.

Department stores (1.77%) saw a second-consecutive monthly rise in year-on-year sales, while weakness in the Household goods category (0.60%) dragged down the overall result for the industry.

“We have seen the housing market come off the boil of late in several states, which explains the flat results for Hardware and building and more significantly, Furniture, which was down by 2.55 percent,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“People don’t renovate when the housing market is down.”

Across the country, Victoria (5.77%) and the Australian Capital Territory (4.30%) showed the strongest growth in June, closely followed by Tasmania (3.87%) and New South Wales (3.05%). South Australia (2.53%) and Northern Territory (2.39%) remained steady, while Queensland (0.62%) and Western Australia (-0.46%) remained flat.

June saw the key retail categories posting healthy results, which is linked to the business confidence increase Roy Morgan has reported for the month.

“Business confidence often falls after the Federal Budget; however, this increase shows greater strength in the market, giving retailers much-needed assurance to invest in their businesses and execute product strategies,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“We believe this would grow further with the Federal Government’s company tax cuts coming into play again in the Senate in a few weeks’ time.”

Monthly retail growth (May 2018 – June 2018 seasonally adjusted) 

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (1.71%), Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (0.86%), Household goods retailing (0.45%), Food retailing (0.39%), Other retailing (0%) and Department stores (-1.23%).

Australian Capital Territory (1.24%), Victoria (1.11%), Tasmania (0.91%), New South Wales (0.42%), Western Australia (0.22%), South Australia (-0.04%), Queensland (-0.33%) and Northern Territory (2.58%).

Total sales (0.41%).

Year-on-year retail growth (June 2017 – June 2018 seasonally adjusted)

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (5.26%), Food retailing (4.31%), Cafés, restaurants and takeaway food services (2.36%), Department stores (1.77%), Other retailing (1.32%) and Household goods retailing (0.60%).

Victoria (5.77%), Australian Capital Territory (4.30%), Tasmania (3.87%), New South Wales (3.05%), South Australia (2.53%), Northern Territory (2.39%), Queensland (0.62%) and Western Australia (-0.46%).

Total sales (2.87%).

 

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is Australia’s largest retail association, representing the country’s $310 billion sector, which employs more than 1.2 million people. As Australia’s leading retail peak industry body, the ARA is a strong pro-active advocate for Australian retail and 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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