Retail association says Boxing Day sales exceeded expectation

The Australian Retailers Association has claimed that the Boxing Day sales have exceeded the forecast margin of $2.3 billion for Australia.

Director Rusell Zimmerman said that the New South Wales region seemed to have attracted more shoppers in the festive season with unexpected Boxing Day purchases from the CBD to metro regions along with regional locations. He claimed that the turnover was stronger than the forecast.

“We actually think that record has been exceeded,” The ABC quoted Zimmerman as saying. “Retailers we spoke to anecdotally said the trading day was very, very successful, so we would hope that figure will be exceeded.”

The association predicted earlier that Dec. 26 will offer a turnover of around $2.5 billion after an estimated expenditure of $7.2 billion between Boxing Day and New Year’s Eve. “Sale activity is expected to be stronger across all states compared to last year, with positive consumer confidence, record low interest rates and falling unemployment contributing to growth,” council’s chief executive Anna McPhee said, as quoted by Sydney Morning Herald.

In 2015, certain unique factors have also contributed to the extended sales, including foreign shoppers choosing Australian retail stores and the extension of shopping platform from brick-and-mortar stores to digital one. McPhee claimed that this season saw an unexpected rise in digital shopping on Boxing Day.

She added that it was predicted that online sales would remain limited to $2.7 billion between Dec. 26 and Jan. 15, but the online shopping medium grabbed the attention of both domestic and foreign shoppers.

A change in Australian legislation has allowed several states to enjoy Boxing Day for the first time following years of restriction on celebrating the said day. Among them was CBD, which opened its doors for Boxing Day sales. Seeing the overwhelming response in the year-long restricted states on this Boxing Day, NSW retailers have urged for relaxation in the trading rules that ultimately allowed them to sell the Boxing Day items.