BOXING DAY proved to be another great day for retailers this year with Australians flooding shopping centres and department stores across the country. Boxing Day sales are set to reach $2.3 billion as predicted by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), with consumers lining up outside stores to take advantage of some of the best retail deals of the year.

Russell Zimmerman, ARA Executive Director, said retailers were happy with the out pour of consumers across the country, and were thankful to shoppers who waited patiently in ques due to the uplift in foot traffic across the nation.

“Every year Boxing Day crowds seem to expand, and this year’s crowd certainly did not disappoint,” Mr Zimmerman said.

“We predicted retailers would trade over $2.3 billion this Boxing Day, and judging by the increase of people in stores, I think we may have hit the mark.”

This Boxing Day, Myer launched their biggest Stocktake Sale, and expected to have 1.6 million customers flood through their doors. While department stores traded well, shopping centers like Melbourne Central expected to see over 230,000 people pass through the centre yesterday to take advantage of end-of-year sales.

Online retailers have also seen an increase in consumer activity during this last 24 hours due to Australians feeling more confident in purchasing products on mobile devices.

‘Boxing Day is only the start of the sale period, and we anticipate this shopping spree to continue for the next two or three weeks,” Mr Zimmerman said.

The ARA and Roy Morgan Research expect shoppers to spend $17.2 billion from December 26 to January 15 2017. The category tipped to enjoy the biggest increase in year on year sales in the next three weeks will be ‘hospitality’ at 6.8% growth, which is reflective of people enjoying their holidays and spending money at cafes and bars.

Following hospitality, other categories expected to show a big increase over the next three weeks in year on year sales will be the ‘other’ category at 3.2% growth, and ‘apparel’ at a 3% increase.

On a state basis, NSW will be the big winner, with year on year growth of 3.6% growth for the period encompassing 26 December 2016 to 15 January 2017.

ARA ROY MORGAN POST-CHRISTMAS 2016/17 SALES PREDICTIONS

December 26, 2016 – January 15, 2017

Boxing Day 2016 sales

(Australian Retailers Association)

2016/17 Post-Christmas Sales Growth by Category

(ARA/ROY MORGAN)

2016/17 Post-Christmas Sales Growth by State

(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 $300 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 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

 ends

WITH ONLY a few days left for Australians to finalise their Christmas shopping, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) reminds consumers of the most sought after Christmas gifts this silly season and where to source produce for this Sunday’s Christmas lunch.

With Australians set to spend more than $48.1 billion in retail stores over the Christmas trading period from November 14 to December 24 2016, Roy Morgan’s Young Australians Survey has predicted the hottest-selling gifts for kids this Christmas.

Apple electronics top the ‘cool list’ with 69 percent of children voting the iPad as the best gift this Christmas, closely followed by 54 percent of children thinking the iPhone will be a nice stocking surprise.

While Apple-branded products take out majority of the top 10 hottest products this Christmas, the Fitbit appears to be the favorite amongst adults. This product continues to take the lead as the number one searched for gift two years in a row.

Following the technology trend, Hatchimals hit the top spot in the toy department, with major retailers seeing these interactive hatching eggs fall off the shelves.

Steve Cox, Dymocks managing director says Harry Potter is a Christmas stocking must have for all book lovers out there.

“It can’t be Christmas without the magic of Harry Potter,” said Mr Cox, “The last few months have seen the release of the Illustrated Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets and the original screenplay of Fantastic Beasts and Where to Find Them, so whether you’re an existing fan or new to the wizarding world, they make the perfect addition to any reader's bookshelf,” Mr Cox said.

For those looking to fill the family table for Christmas lunch, Sydney Fish Market is expecting more than 100,000 shoppers to visit the market between Friday December 23 and Saturday December 24 to source their fresh seafood for their Christmas feast.

ARA Executive Director, Russell Zimmerman says fresh fish, prawns, oysters and scallops are likely to be on everyone’s Christmas menu this year.

“With the sun promising to shine brightly this Christmas day, we are expecting Australians to shop big on fresh seafood for the long-anticipated Christmas barbie,” Mr Zimmerman said.

Sydney Fish Market general manager, Bryan Skepper, says the Sydney Fish Market is a foodie’s haven and a one-stop shop for all Christmas supplies.

“It’s obvious that adults see the Christmas holiday as a seafood celebration as we expect to trade 700 tonnes of fresh seafood this year, that’s equivalent to the weight of 350,000 Christmas trees,” Mr Skepper said.

Although the Sydney Fish Market expects to trade more than 200 tonnes of prawns and 900,000 oysters, Mr Skepper says this Christmas is not all about seafood.

“Shoppers can also grab a Christmas turkey or a rare-breed Kurobuta Ham from the market’s butcher, get advice from the bottle shop on the best wines and beer to accompany their Christmas meal, or even pick up fresh bread from the bakery.”

This weekend will see a surge of foot traffic across all retail stores with Australians stocking up for Christmas celebrations and purchasing last minute supplies to tide them over on Christmas Day when stores may be closed.

“With Australians to hit the stores in force late this week, we ask that shoppers remain patient as retail staff manage the increased number of customers,” Mr Zimmerman said.

For a full breakdown of Christmas trading hours state by state please view our Christmas Public Holiday Circular.

About the Australian Retailers Association:

Founded in 1903, the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) is the retail industry’s peak representative body representing Australia’s $300 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 5,000 independent and national retail members throughout Australia. For more information, visit www.retail.org.au or call 1300 368 041.

ends

THE FEDERAL Government has completed a thorough evaluation of final private sector bids to upgrade and operate the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) registry functions and decided not to proceed further.

The reason the Government decided not to proceed with the commercialisation of the ASIC Registry is that the final bids received did not deliver a net financial benefit for the Commonwealth.

The Government appreciates the private sector’s participation throughout the competitive tender process.