Australian online retailers prospered from early start to Black Friday, says NRA

Celene Ignacio

3rd Dec 2024

Online and household goods retailers benefitted from their early discounting strategies, achieving higher sales in October, a retail group said.

“Cyber and furniture discretionary retailers saw some relief in October when they decided to roll out their Black Friday deals earlier than usual,” said Lindsay Carroll, interim CEO at the National Retail Association (NRA).

“The cost-of-living crisis has created a pool of savvy shoppers who wait for the best bargains before purchasing larger items, such as electronics and furniture.”

Carroll cited Shopify’s data, which showed that 53 per cent of Australians finalise their holiday shopping lists by October, a figure that surges to 70 per cent for households with children.

“We have anticipated $6.7 billion in spending over the Black Friday and Cyber Monday (BFCM) weekend, a crucial event for discretionary retailers, accounting for nearly 35 per cent of their overall profits for the year,” said Carroll.

The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) earlier said that October retail sales rose 3.4 per cent year on year to $36.7 billion, with other retailing – which includes cosmetics, sports and recreational goods – soaring 8.4 per cent to $5.85 billion.

Household goods, meanwhile, increased 3.3 per cent to $5.92 billion.

Across all states, Victoria and WA posted the highest growth rate of 4.1 per cent, with sales amounting to $9.49 billion and $4.17 billion, respectively.