CHRISTMAS – ECONOMIC ASPECTS – AUSTRALIA

Aussies face $2.7 billion Christmas debt hangover

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Original article by Hannah Kennelly
The Age – Page: Online : 8-Jan-25

Research by consumer comparison site Finder shows that eight per cent of Australians had expected to go into debt during the 2024 Christmas holiday season. This equates to about 1.7 million people; the survey also found that about 20 per cent of them will take at least six months to repay this debt. The Australian Retailers Association and Roy Morgan in turn had estimated that consumers would spend $69.8 billion in the lead-up to Christmas, with the average shopper expected to spend $707 on gifts. The ARA and Roy Morgan also estimate that Australian consumers spent $1.3 billion on Boxing Day, and a total of $3.7 billion in the six days after Christmas.

CORPORATES
FINDER.COM.AU, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Pre-Christmas retail sales hit record high of $66.8 billion – within 1.2% of Roy Morgan’s forecast

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Feb-23

Roy Morgan’s 2022 Christmas retail sales forecast conducted in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) of $66 billion seasonally adjusted for the key pre-Christmas retailing period was within 1.2% of the actual record seasonally adjusted retail sales result of $66.8 billion – the most accurate forecast since the COVID-19 pandemic struck Australia early in 2020. Even more impressive were Roy Morgan’s retail sales forecasts covering ‘Non-Food’ categories, which cover about 60% of total retail spending. Roy Morgan had predicted that total spending in ‘Non-Food’ categories would amount to $40.6 billion (up 7.8% on a year ago); the final spending across these categories came in at $40.6 billion, an exact match and also in line with the ABS December quarter CPI figures. Forecast spending in the Food category was $25.4 billion, slightly lower than the actual result of $26.2 billion. The difference in this category was heavily impacted by significant flooding events in much of eastern Australia, which led to unexpected inflationary pressures across several key food and grocery items.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, AUSTRALIAN BUREAU OF STATISTICS

New research shows good news in store for retail this Christmas

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 29-Nov-22

The Christmas Gift Buying Survey by the Australian Retailers Association in collaboration with Roy Morgan shows that 59% of Australians intend to spend the same or more (12%) on Christmas gifts compared with 2021, despite growing inflationary pressures. The survey also found that the average gift purchase is $700, down slightly ($26) on last year. Australians aged 35-49 years will spend the most, committing an average of $933 to their gifts; spending for this age group is up $111 over last year. Meanwhile, the majority of Australians will continue to shop for Christmas gifts in-store, with around one-third done online (down 14% point on 2021). Only 1% of Australians say they will do 100% of their shopping online. This ARA-Roy Morgan Snap SMS survey was conducted with an Australian-wide cross-section of 2,317 Australians aged 18+ on Thursday October 20 – Monday October 24, including 1,717 who plan on buying gifts for Christmas.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Good news in store for retail this Christmas – new research

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Original article by
Australian Retailers Association – Page: Online : 23-Nov-22

The Christmas Gift Buying Survey has been undertaken by the Australian Retailers Association in collaboration with Roy Morgan. The survey shows that 59% of Australians intend to spend the same or more (12%) on Christmas gifts compared with 2021, despite growing inflationary pressures. It also found that the average gift purchase is $700, down slightly ($26) on last year. Alcohol and food top the list of intended gift purchases for this year, followed by gifts cards and toys. The ARA and Roy Morgan forecast that Australians will spend nearly $64 billion in the lead up to Christmas, up 3% on last year. They also forecast that sales over the four-day Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend (25 – 28 Nov) will reach a record $6.2 billion.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Harvey says Australians are shopping like crazy

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Original article by Kanika Sood
The Australian Financial Review – Page: 17 : 22-Dec-21

The Australian Retailers Association recently forecast that pre-Christmas consumer spending will total $58.8bn in 2021, which is in line with 2020. Harvey Norman is among the retailers that are enjoying strong sales in the lead-up to Christmas, with executive chairman Gerry Harvey noting that all of its stores have been very busy and demand has been strong across its product range. Harvey adds that retailers may offer smaller discounts than usual at the upcoming Boxing Day sales, given that supply chain issues have resulted in less stock to discount.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, HARVEY NORMAN HOLDINGS LIMITED – ASX HVN

Christmas coming early as retailers brace for November splurge

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Original article by Matthew Elmas
The New Daily – Page: Online : 10-Nov-21

Australia Post is ramping up its parcel delivery services in expectations of a big increase in online shopping in November. The annual Click Frenzy event has signalled the start of the anticipated surge in online sales in the lead-up to Christmas. The Australian Retailers Association has forecast that the upcoming Black Friday and Cyber Monday events will generate some $5.4bn worth of retail sales in just four days. Roy Morgan CEO Michele Levine says the recent ending of COVID-19 lockdowns in Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra is likely to see retail spending in November either match or exceed the record levels of 2020.

CORPORATES
AUSTRALIA POST, CLICK FRENZY PTY LTD, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, ROY MORGAN LIMITED

Pre-Christmas retail trade for 2021 predicted to remain steady year-on-year at $58 billion

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 22-Oct-21

The Australian Retailers Association and strategic partner Roy Morgan are predicting that this year’s pre-Christmas spending will broadly match last year’s high and be significantly above 2019 pre-pandemic spending. The ARA-Roy Morgan 2021 pre-Christmas Retail Sales predictions forecast that overall spending will come in at $58.8 billion, virtually unchanged on last year, but up 11.3% on pre-pandemic conditions. National retail trade for pre-Christmas 2021 is predicted to be in-line with 2020, with growth in Victoria, Tasmania and the ACT; NSW and WA largely flat and some contraction in Queensland, SA and NT off the back of strong pre-Christmas sales in 2020. The Roy Morgan data also values (for the first time) the impact of the most recent lockdowns on retail trade at $131 million per day across the economy.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

2020 Christmas retail sales set to grow 2.8% to $54.3 billion

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Nov-20

Roy Morgan’s annual Christmas retail sales forecasts conducted in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association indicate that Australians will spend over $54.3 billion across retail stores during the Christmas trading period. Forecast retail spending this Christmas of over $54.3 billion is an increase of 2.8% from the $52.9 billion of retail expenditure during the 2019 Christmas trading period and is a better than expected forecast than many would have thought possible during the year as Australia dealt with the unprecedented pandemic. Because of the huge impact on spending patterns caused by COVID-19, and the associated lockdowns around Australia, spending across the six categories measured has diverged significantly during 2020. Unsurprisingly, the largest percentage increasing in spending is predicted for the Food category, with pre-Christmas spending forecast to grow by 10% from a year ago to over $23.8 billion. Due to the impact of COVID-19 and the continuing restrictions, Hospitality spending is forecast to be 18.7% down on a year ago at just under $6.1 billion.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION

Yuletide bounce falls flat for shops

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Original article by Patrick Commins
The Australian – Page: 3 : 24-Dec-19

AMP Capital’s Shane Oliver says the bushfire crisis is likely to affect consumer sentiment during the retail sector’s crucial Christmas trading period. He notes that consumer confidence had already been dampened by factors such as low wages growth, a high underemployment rate and economic uncertainty. The Australian Retailers Association has forecast that consumer spending will by rise 2.6 per cent to $52.7bn between 14 November and 24 December, while it expects spending at post-Christmas sales to rise 2.4 per cent to $18.7bn.

CORPORATES
AMP CAPITAL INVESTORS LIMITED, AUSTRALIAN RETAILERS ASSOCIATION, DELOITTE ACCESS ECONOMICS PTY LTD, AUSTRALIA AND NEW ZEALAND BANKING GROUP LIMITED – ASX ANZ

What do kids want for Christmas? Netflix, iPads & iPhones

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Original article by Roy Morgan
Market Research Update – Page: Online : 20-Dec-19

Roy Morgan’s pre-Christmas spending predictions, released in conjunction with the Australian Retailers Association, show that Australians are expected to spend nearly $53 billion in the lead-up to Christmas. This is up 2.6% on a year ago, and well above the latest ABS inflation level of 1.7%. Meanwhile, streaming service Netflix has topped the Kids’ Cool List in Roy Morgan’s Young Australians Survey for a second straight year; Netflix was nominated as ‘really cool’ by 66% of 6-13 year olds (up 3% points on 2018) and more than 70% of 10-13 year olds. In second place is former Number 1 (in 2016), the Apple iPad on 60%, followed by the Apple iPhone on 53%. Netflix is in top spot for both girls and boys, ahead of the iPad, with girls putting the Apple iPhone in third spot, although for boys it is the Sony PlayStation 4 that takes third spot. More than twice as many boys as girls say they consider the PlayStation 4 ‘really cool’. With around 2,500 young respondents per year, Roy Morgan’s Young Australians Survey has been measuring the changing tastes, opinions and activities of Aussie kids for many years, proving to be an invaluable resource for both retailers and parents keen to ensure they know what children and teens want.

CORPORATES
ROY MORGAN LIMITED, NETFLIX INCORPORATED, APPLE INCORPORATED, SONY COMPUTER ENTERTAINMENT AUSTRALIA PTY LTD