The Reserve Bank has one more chance to stifle Black Friday sales in November, and retailers are urging them not to use August's healthy sales boost as an excuse.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) released retail sales data for August today, revealing a 0.7 per cent increase in trade for the month and a 3.7 per cent boost for the year.
National Retail Association Interim CEO Lindsay Carroll said the healthy trade figures were a positive sign, but one month of good sales isn't enough for businesses to recover from a challenging past couple of years.
"The industry is at the mercy of consumer sentiment; that's just the nature of retail. Business owners need every win they can get in the lead-up to Christmas," Ms Carroll said.
"Last year, the Reserve Bank decided to wait until the Black Friday to stifle sales, with an interest rate rise at the start of the holiday shopping season.
"We are asking our policymakers to give retailers some breathing room to recover during this year's holiday sale season," she said.
According to the ABS, there was an increase in discretionary spending for the month of August, a part of retail that has suffered the most at the hands of high interest rates.
"Of the non-food industries, department stores (1.6%) had the largest rise, followed by clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (1.5%) and other retailing (1.3%)," she said.
"Spring set in faster than usual and had many Aussies hitting the stores for the surprise shift in weather.
"Unsurprisingly, the retailers in the Sunshine State saw the second-largest increase in sales (0.8%), while Victoria, which is used to colder weather for much longer, had the largest sales boost (0.9%).
"Today's ABS data is also an indicator that consumers are willing to spend on discretionary items if they serve a purpose, and the holiday season has always been a reason to spend."
The National Retail Association represents more than 60,000 stores across Australia. It has been serving businesses in the retail and fast-food sectors for close to 100 years.
