Retailers enjoy a tidal wave of cashed-up shoppers

Retailers kept the cash tills ringing as consumers have bought into white goods, electronics and home entertainment products during the pandemic.

JB HiFi chief executive Richard Murray: ‘It has been remarkably strong across the board.’ Picture: Aaron Francis

It started like a wave, similar to the emergence of the COVID-19 pandemic.

But for retailers, this became a tidal wave of sales that crashed into cash registers, as consumers first went for fridges to store extra food and then to electronics to set up home offices — and then gadgets and home entertainment products, from TVs to smartphones, as people became accustomed to staying stuck at home.

For retailers such as JB Hi-Fi, its whitegoods specialist The Good Guys, as well as other discretionary chains, from Adairs and Nick Scali to Harvey Norman and Shaver Shop, it means they are lining up for a bumper first-half reporting season in the coming months.

JB Hi-Fi once again set the benchmark for success on Monday, when it unveiled its forecast results for the six months to December 31, headlined by an expected 86.2 per cent rise in net profit and a 23.7 per cent rise in sales.

Chief executive Richard Murray told The Australian the performance of his chains — JB Hi-Fi and The Good Guys — was characterised by gains across all categories, in uniform fashion. It was not just a single category such as TVs or fridges that stole the glory, but across his stores, across the aisles, a rising tide of government stimulus and bloated personal savings lifted all boats.

“It has been remarkably strong across the board,” Mr Murray said.

“There has been nothing of the last few months that has specifically related to COVID-19. Because we have passed the hibernation and we have passed the working from home and so generally it has been people shopping for Christmas etc.”

The question then becomes how sustainable that sales momentum is, as there are just so many fridges you can buy in a lifetime, just so many TVs you can hang on your wall.

“When you think about the number of households, only a small proportion are shopping with us at any point in time,” Mr Murray said.

“And my view is, and I feel for the travel industry, while Australians are staying at home and while we have travel restrictions in place, that it is certainly good for consumer discretionary.”

He said the strong property cycle was good for The Good Guys.

“We saw in December property prices have one of their biggest movements in recent times. Certainly the property cycle has been good for The Good Guys and JB Hi-Fi,” he said.

“Australians’ view of their wealth is obviously linked to property and I think generally … trying to ensure that property prices remain reasonably stable is a good outcome for us.”