Shoppers spend up in Christmas retail fever
Retailers are gearing up for an avalanche of spending in the last seven days before Christmas morning as customers tap into the $240bn in savings.
Retailers are gearing up for an avalanche of spending in the last seven days before Christmas morning as customers tap into the $240bn in savings piled up through Covid-19 lockdowns.
The kids need to be kept socially distanced from Santa and his elves, and shoppers have to be armed with not only their Christmas lists but also masks and vaccine certificates, but the retail industry is not perturbed, given the spare cash burning a hole in customers’ pockets.
Some clear leaders are emerging as popular gifts, with gift vouchers a popular choice. Australians also are still heavily focused on their homes – in which they have been locked for months in some states – with homewares, furnishings, smart tech devices that connect the home to online or a smartphone to be found beneath the Christmas tree.
At the Myer “giftorium”, a floor in the department store’s flagship Melbourne site devoted to all things presents and Christmas, kids are still getting their pictures with Santa and the retailer is revving up the Christmas spirit as much as is possible given the constraints of a pandemic. And shoppers seem to be receptive to this and confident to walk into a store.
“With only a few days to go before Christmas, we’re seeing increased foot traffic across our stores with customers looking for all their last-minute gifts and tabletop decor for Christmas Day,” a Myer spokesman said.
“Some of the most popular items we are seeing customers purchasing range from beauty gift sets from Dior, Estee Lauder and YSL … through to homewares such as Philips air fryers and Dyson home and hair products.
“For the kids, Santa is stocking up his sleigh with Barbie, LOL Surprise dolls, Bluey, and Lego.”
There also was a huge increase in sales of dresses and accessories as customers embraced Christmas parties.
JB Hi-Fi chief executive Terry Smart said home gadgets were proving a big hit heading into Christmas, especially devices that connected the home to the internet or smartphones such as those that allowed people to control the lights or temperature remotely.
This is partly a function of people focusing on their homes during lockdowns, fuelling a boom in sales of home furnishings, homewares, bedding and kitchen appliances across the year.
“Customers are continuing to focus on the home and as a result many of the appliances categories have remained popular over this period as well,” Mr Smart said.
“The smart home category too is popular; that’s voice-activated technology, smart home devices that control lighting, and other functions around the home.”
Online marketplace Kogan.com reports strong demand for LED TVs and appliances, including large items such as fridges and washing machines, and, interestingly, sneakers.
Alcohol is proving popular, with the gin category continuing its dominance among shoppers.
Coles liquor merchandise general manager Brad Gorman said momentum had been building in the gin category as Christmas approached, and Coles had released a new range of flavoured gins in time for the late buying rush.
“I’ve got a feeling these new-generation gins are going to find their way into a lot of Christmas stockings this year,” he said.
Encouraging signs for the Christmas trading period for retailers began to emerge last month as people freshly out of lockdowns in NSW, Canberra and Victoria revealed a yearning for some retail therapy and plenty of pent-up savings to spend.
The Commonwealth Bank Household Spending Intentions Index showed retail spending intentions continued to improve last month to be up 9.6 per cent after solid increases in October. Relative to November last year, the retail spending intentions index was up 5.6 per cent and is now up 21 per cent from the Delta lockdown low in August this year.
Environmental threat to 2030 energy goal: Acciona
Acciona has flicked the switch on the biggest wind farm in the southern hemisphere, but warns environmental rules remain the major obstacle for more renewables.
Woodside fielding offers for LNG development stake
Woodside Energy is understood to have had plenty of offers from buyers keen for a stake in its US Gulf Coast Driftwood LNG development opportunity, and one name stands out.