Black Friday Sales Boost Retail Spending: Australia

Australian retail turnover rose 0.8 per cent in November 2024, according to seasonally adjusted figures released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

This comes after growth of 0.5 per cent in October 2024 and 0.4 per cent in September 2024.

Robert Ewing, ABS head of business statistics, said: "Black Friday sales events proved once again to be a big hit, with widespread discounting and higher spending across all retail industries.

"The popularity of Black Friday sales continues to grow with promotional activity now stretching across the entire month of November, not just solely focused on the Black Friday weekend."

Trend estimates from March 2020 to June 2022 are not available due to the degree of disruption and volatility caused by COVID-19. Trend estimates throughout the pandemic period are likely to be unhelpful and potentially misleading for users in interpreting underlying trend in retail activity.

There were rises in all retail industries in November.

Of the non-food related industries, department stores rose 1.8 per cent, followed by clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (+1.6 per cent), household goods retailing (+0.6 per cent), and other retailing (+0.3 per cent).

"Consumers have taken advantage of Black Friday sales once again, with discounting seen across clothing items, furniture, electrical goods and cosmetics," Mr Ewing said.

"Discounts were also seen in essential goods, with businesses in food retailing boosted by higher spending due to Black Friday price cuts and points incentives through rewards programs."

Both food-related industries rose. Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (+1.5 per cent) had its fourth straight monthly rise, while food retailing rose 0.5 per cent.

Retail turnover rose in all states and territories with the impact of Black Friday felt across the country.

"The Northern Territory bounced back from two straight monthly falls following the end of the peak tourism season and adverse weather to see the largest rise of all states and territories," Mr Ewing said.

The ABS would like to thank businesses for their continued support in responding to our surveys.