Bank predicts Australians will spend $ 1million per minute on Black Friday
Bank predicts Australians will spend $ 1million per MINUTE on Black Friday – but there’s bad economic news next week
A clear sign that the economic recovery from COVID-19 lockdowns is underway, economists expect retailers to have benefited from another vibrant month of sales in October as restrictions eased.
They predict that Friday’s retail figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics will show spending rose 2% in October, building on the 1.3% increase in September.
The September rebound came too late to prevent sales in the September quarter from falling a record 4.4% due to lockdowns in NSW, Victoria and ACT.
There are clear signs the Australian economy is rebounding after closures saw spending plummet, with Black Friday sales providing a timely – and very important – boost (pictured, shoppers at Sydney’s Pitt Street Mall)
Such weakness will be reflected in next Wednesday’s national accounts for the September quarter, which should show an economic contraction.
Looking ahead, this weekend’s Black Friday-Cyber ​​Monday discount sales are expected to generate huge interest, with a retail bank predicting nearly $ 1 million per minute will be spent.
Retail groups are forecasting spending of more than $ 5 billion over the weekend.
“With the rapid expansion of online sales over the past two years of stalling, Black Friday has become the ‘new Christmas’,†said James Stewart of KPMG.
However, KPMG warns consumers will face higher prices for merchandise, with survey finding 70% of businesses in the retail and hospitality sectors report supply chain issues will increase. their costs.
Despite the rebound in retail trade, national accounts due on December 1 should give a depressing reading as they show the economy contracted in the September quarter (pictured, shoppers at Sydney’s Strand Arcade)
More than three-quarters of the 90, mostly private, businesses surveyed also found that with the opening up of retail and hospitality, there are fears that a shortage of staff could affect their operations.
Despite this, four in five companies expect their performance to reach pre-COVID levels within the next 12 months.
“Supply chain issues are clearly a major hurdle for retailers to overcome, particularly their impact on inventory volume and availability heading into Christmas,†said Mr. Stewart.
“Higher labor and transportation costs put pressure on margins and these costs may ultimately be passed on to the consumer through higher prices by affected retailers.”
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