Counterbalanced online shopping, Australian retailers attacked Christmas market at low prices

According to the "Australian Daily" report, clothing, perfume, jewelry and toys are traditional hot items before the holiday season, but retailers are now playing a brand of discount promotion. Three weeks away from Christmas, most stores in Australia are discounted, and some fashion and men's suit shops offer early discounts of 30%.

The National Retailers Association of Australia, Margy Osmond, said that in order to increase sales, some stores started Christmas promotions as early as mid-November. “This is a new phenomenon in the retail industry in Australia, and it has never happened so much time for shopping.”

In the current economic environment, discounts are the only way to effectively break Australian psychological defenses and persuade them to open their wallets. Since October last year, the central bank raised interest rates seven times, frightened the holders of housing, and consumer conservatism has taken root in all Australians, including young consumers who rarely worry about money.

In BourkeSt. In Target's store, stores offer over half-price discounts for toys and video games, and offer customers a chance to win AUD$20,000. Recently, the checkout counter at the cash register also discharged at least 10 people.

The clerk of BevillesJewellers said that the recent bad weather, heavy rain, but the promotion will encourage more shoppers to go shopping. “We didn’t feel the retail industry was weak. We were busy all day and we didn’t even have time to eat.”

Retail analysts said that in this new thrift era, discount promotions are very suitable for the current market environment. In BourkeSt. BeautyWarehouse, which offers up to 85% cosmetic discounts, has its shelves quickly cleared.

Russell Zimmerman, executive director of the Australian Retailers Association, predicts that total Christmas retail sales, including food, will increase by 3.5% year-on-year to $39.9 billion.

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Consumption levels in the retail industry in Australia have significantly declined in October this year, with the largest decline in sales volume in 15 months; this occurred before the Federal Reserve Bank raised interest rates in early November.

According to the latest data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics recently, the seasonally adjusted retail sales fell by 1.1% in October. Including the catering industry's total sales fell by 4.8%, clothing and footwear sales fell by 4.6%.

Economists say that this situation in the retail industry gives people more reason to believe that the central bank will maintain the current interest rate unchanged for a long period of time.

Savanth Sebastian, an economist at Commsec, a securities brokerage firm of the Commonwealth Bank, said: “What we are seeing is the data for October. The effect of the official interest rate hike in November and the fact that commercial banks have taken the opportunity to significantly raise interest rates has not yet been achieved. Reflected in the data, this does mean that the retail industry will face a recession for several months.” He believes that this shows that consumer spending by Australian consumers has been suppressed, marking the current uncertainty of the Australian economy.

Michael Blythe, chief economist at the Federal Bank, said that despite the recession in October, it is believed that consumer demand will recover. He said that according to recent data, the income that can be spent per household increased by 2.3% in the third quarter; increased by 6.4% in the year before September, and the labor market is in good condition, so the status of the retail industry There may be rapid improvements.