The Executive Director of the Australian Retailers Association, Russell Zimmerman, anticipates online purchases will fill Christmas stockings this year, as the ARA and Roy Morgan predict Australians will spend almost $53bn from November 14 to December 25.
The ARA and Roy Morgan estimate Australian consumers will spend over $7.6bn in the "Other Retailing" category, which includes online sales, representing a 3.7% increase compared to last year's festive season.
"Black Friday and Cyber Monday continue to get bigger and bigger in Australia, and these sales days will kick off the pre-Christmas sales this year with a range of great deals for early shoppers," Mr Zimmerman said.
"In 2018, Black Friday and Cyber Monday brought spending forward, as the week following the sales saw more products delivered than the first week of December, the usual online shopping peak," he continued.
Deloitte's Christmas Survey 2019 reveals retailers expect to begin discounting earlier this year, partly due to the impact of Black Friday sales, as Hitwise data indicates a boost to Click Frenzy engagement this month as shoppers gear up for a busy online shopping period.
"Australians are already searching for this year's Black Friday event, according to Google Trends, after 'Black Friday' searches soared by 50% from 2017 to 2018. We hope retailers are ready," Mr Zimmerman said.
Google Trends also recorded big spikes in related searches for JB Hi-Fi, Myer, Amazon and Harvey Norman Black Friday sales. Mr Zimmerman said research from the ARA's partners at Hitwise also predicted strong online sales for electronic consumer goods. Apple products dominated the top 20 most searched products last week; the Nintendo Switch topped last week's searches, with Nespresso and Fitbit rounding out the top three.
"Retailers who offer alternative payment options are at a significant advantage as we've noticed millennials and young Australians are shying away from credit cards in favour of buy-now pay-later options, and it's these shoppers that prefer to do more shopping from the comfort of their couch," Mr Zimmerman continued.
Fashion accounts for 27% of all online purchases, while beauty and cosmetic products get a big boost over Black Friday and Cyber Monday, having recorded 54% year-on-year growth in 2018 according to Australia Post.
"Many Australians are no longer waiting until Boxing Day for a bargain, while many have written their lists early and jumped online in search of the perfect gift to make a very Merry Christmas," Mr Zimmerman concluded.
ARA/Roy Morgan Pre-Christmas Sales Predictions - 14 November-24 December 2019
Forecast 2019 Pre-Christmas Sales Growth, by Category
[ARA/ROY MORGAN]
Forecast 2019 Pre-Christmas Sales Growth, by State
[ARA/ROY MORGAN]
For more Christmas predictions, visit www.australian-retailers-association.com/christmas-predictions
