Australia: Retail disappoints in the lead-up to Christmas – ANZ

According to Australia’s aggregated and de-identified ANZ data on card payments, the peak Christmas shopping season (16 December until Boxing Day) was much weaker this year than the past few years, suggests the analysis team at ANZ.

Key Quotes

“ANZ card data have sales down a touch more than 5% in 2019 over this period compared to the same time in 2018.”

“Very strong Black Friday sales are likely to be behind the weaker-than-usual December retail sales figures. The bushfires and smoke haze may also have been a factor, particularly in categories where purchases can be delayed, like non-food items.”

“Compared with 2018, the 2019 Christmas shopping season was weaker in every state and territory, except the ACT. South Australia and the mining states (Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory) were particularly weak. The Christmas effect has been weakening for some time, but the softness in 2019 appears to be particularly stark.”