Black Friday sales have spread well beyond a single weekend in November but the boost in profits failed to meet expectations.
A pick up in sales had been anticipated by economists, though November’s 0.8 per cent lift fell short of the one per cent increase expected.
Australian Bureau of Statistics head of business statistics Robert Ewing attributed the still-strong increase in retail sales to the rising prominence of Black Friday promotions.
“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,” he said.
Unsurprisingly, the discounting event fuelled spending growth in department stores, up 1.8 per cent, and in clothing and footwear, which gained 1.6 per cent.
Food retailing and cafes and restaurants also recorded growth over the month, with the latter rising 1.5 per cent.
Consumer behaviour has been a source of uncertainty for the Reserve Bank of Australia as it vies to temper demand for goods and services and slow inflation.
AMP economist My Bui viewed the retail sales update as “relatively neutral” for the RBA’s outlook on inflation and interest rates.
Spending patterns were evolving broadly as expected with consumers still cautious, but a gradual recovery in spending was under way as lower inflation and a resilient labour market improved purchasing power.
“The consumer sector in Australia seems to have passed the worst point, as both nominal sales and real spending volumes have picked up since August,” Ms Bui said.
With spending strong in October and November, some economists were expecting a weaker December as shoppers brought their Christmas shopping forward.
CreditorWatch chief economist Ivan Colhoun said discounting across key categories was helpful for the inflation outlook.
“More broadly, the data is neither very weak nor very strong, which supports both the notion of the RBA board beginning to reduce interest rates at its February board meeting given the pleasing consumer price index data of yesterday,” he wrote in a note.
The just-right retail sales further supported a fairly moderate easing cycle, he said, of between 50 basis points and 100 basis points of cuts.
December quarter inflation, due at the end of January, will be pivotal ahead of the RBA’s keenly anticipated February interest rates call.
But Wednesday’s monthly numbers were encouraging, with the all-important trimmed mean seemingly tracking below the RBA’s forecasts.
Underlying inflation ease to 3.2 per cent in November, down from 3.5 per cent in October.
