Recreational goods, books and cosmetics: Top Christmas gifts for Qlders

Queenslanders are expected to spend $14bn in the lead up to Christmas with “little luxuries” the biggest growth sector.

Model Chloe Bau wearing an outfit from David Jones, Queens Plaza. Picture: Nigel Hallett

Queenslanders are expected to fork out about $14.1bn in the six-week lead up to Christmas, with purchases of recreational goods, books and cosmetics leading the charge.

The spend is up 3 per cent on the same period last year, and sits at 0.3 per cent higher than the national average of 2.7 per cent.

The data from Australian Retailers Association is positive news for Sunshine State businesses after a rough year of trade among cost of living pressures and rising operating costs.

“That’s a good result in a pretty challenging economy where we know a lot of Australians and Queenslanders are extremely budget conscious,” said Australian Retailers Association Chief Industry Affairs Officer Fleur Brown.

She said the biggest growth category for spending was in what was called “little luxuries”, such as small jewellery, perfume and sporting accessories.

“People who are on a tight budget may not be able to spend as much as they would like overall or spend on large or expensive items but they may put their money towards small luxuries,” Ms Brown said.

Chloe Bau at David Jones, Queens Plaza. Picture: Nigel Hallett

QUT retail expert Gary Mortimer said although spend was up this year, it might not mean consumers were actually buying more.

“We’ll probably buy the same amount of products but we’ll spend a bit more because prices are inflated,” he said, revealing most Queenslanders would be putting the bulk of their money towards food and groceries, while clothing, footwear and accessories would attract the smallest spend.

He said hospitality was also struggling, however, it would be buoyed across the festive season by tourists.

“While we may see Queenslanders not spending significantly more than what they did in 2023, the tourist dollar certainly has a positive impact on Queensland’s economy,” he said.

“From mid-November to almost mid-January, we’ll see southerners coming up from New South Wales and Victoria and an influx of international tourists hitting places like the Gold Coast and Sunshine Coast and perhaps the hinterland, as well as places like the Whitsundays and Cairns, so you know it’s a positive sign for Queensland.”

Emma Clarke from Business Chamber Queensland said while businesses were expecting an uplift in sales and revenue, profitability and general business conditions in the December quarter, it wasn’t all good news.

“It’s promising, but it’s really important to note that those indicators are off a really low level,” she said.

“It’s been two years of historically low or week conditions, so there’s a long way to go to see some sustained and consistent improvement in the business sector.”

Ms Clarke said Queensland businesses had recorded some of the weakest profitability in recent years amid the rising costs of rent, insurance, energy and staffing, and needed the support of locals more than ever to ensure their survival.

“It’s a critical time that we can be getting out and supporting businesses through tourism, hospitality and the retail sectors, in particular, but in fact across all sectors to make sure that we can be helping those businesses see a bit of a boost in their profitability,” she said.

She also called for state and federal governments to do their bit to help Queensland businesses, a sentiment backed by Ms Brown, who said targeted tax incentives for small business was crucial to help them through this challenging period.

“We’ve seen a lot of casualties across hospitality and small retail over the last year and we really can’t afford to have another year of stalled growth,” Ms Brown said.

“We would like to see targeted tax incentives for small business when it comes to investing in their growth and artificial intelligence would be a particular area of growth, also just paying attention to them when it comes to ongoing relief, whether that be relief for energy, spending or other incentives to help them to continue to invest in their businesses when they may be in tough financial circumstances.”