November’s Black Friday sales boosted Australia’s retail turnover by almost one percent across the month.
Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) data, released today, showed national retail turnover rose 0.8 percent in November 2024, after growing 0.5 percent in October and 0.4 percent in September.
ABS Head of Business statistics Robert Ewing said Black Friday sales events “proved once again to be a big hit, with widespread discounting and higher spending across all retail industries”.
“The popularity of Black Friday sales continues to grow with promotional activity now stretching across the entire month of November, not just solely focused on the Black Friday weekend,” Mr Ewing said.
He said there were rises in all retail industries in November, with department stores rising 1.8 percent, followed by clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (+1.6 percent), household goods retailing (+0.6 percent), and other retailing (+0.3 percent).
“Consumers have taken advantage of Black Friday sales once again, with discounting seen across clothing items, furniture, electrical goods and cosmetics,” Mr Ewing said.
“Discounts were also seen in essential goods, with businesses in food retailing boosted by higher spending due to Black Friday price cuts and points incentives through rewards programs.”
Mr Ewing said both food-related industries rose, with cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services (+1.5 percent) enjoying its fourth straight monthly rise, while food retailing rose 0.5 percent.
He said retail turnover rose in all states and territories with the impact of Black Friday felt across the country.
“The Northern Territory bounced back from two straight monthly falls following the end of the peak tourism season and adverse weather to see the largest rise of all states and territories.”
