While spending often falls off after Christmas,Commonwealth Bank chief economist Stephen Halmarick said the allure of bargains for both essentials and discretionary items could encourage shoppers to stock up in the Boxing Day sales as well.
“Essential spending usually falls after the ‘gift giving’ period. However,given consumers are clearly seeking sales bargains for both essential and discretionary items,Boxing Day sales could also see a similar trend with a larger share of essential spending,” he said.
CommBank iQ shows showed spending on department stores such as David Jones and Myer fell slightly by 0.7 per cent compared to last year,while spending on luxury items dropped by 4.9 per cent.
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Instead,shoppers turned to discount retailers such as Target,Kmart and Big W,increasing their spend on by 3.2 per cent. Spending on general retail including baby items,online marketplace,pet goods and cosmetics rose by 5.1 per cent.
“The increase we’ve seen in spending at discount and variety stores in November is partly explained by Christmas and holiday shopping,with discretionary spend up 1.9 per cent,” Halmarick said.
“However people are also using the sales to stock up on essentials – with essential spending edging up 0.3 per cent.”