Despite an expected softening in the broader pre-Christmas spending period, says the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), the popularity of Black Friday is set to continue.
Research by the ARA, in partnership with Roy Morgan, reveals shoppers are tipped to spend $6.36 billion across the four-day Black Friday/Cyber Monday weekend (24-27 November) – up 3% from last year. It’s expected many Aussie shoppers will use the sales period to purchase gifts for Christmas.
ARA CEO Paul Zahra says Black Friday continues to cement its status as a marquee retail event, even amid a tumultuous economic outlook.
“While projections are looking somewhat flat for the pre-Christmas period, retailers will be pleased that the Black Friday weekend sales event appears set to buck this trend,” he says.
“The Black Friday sales are the biggest pre-Christmas event on the retail calendar and its popularity only continues to grow in Australia.
“Similar to Halloween, Black Friday started off as an American shopping tradition, but has become a global phenomenon, with millions of Aussies set to take part again this year.”
Mr Zahra says the Black Friday sales event is the perfect time for bargain-driven shoppers to get ahead of the Christmas rush and have their gift delivered in time for the big day.
“The event is renowned for having the biggest pre-Christmas bargains and this year will be no different. We’re expecting significant traffic in-store and online, with sales to reach $6.36 billion this year – an increase of $188 million on 2022,” he says.
“More and more consumers are being budget-conscious in light of the cost-of-living crisis, so the Black Friday sales are an ideal time to grab a bargain and save some unnecessary stress the weeks before Christmas.”
Broader pre-Christmas spending in 2023 is tipped to edge in line with last year’s results as shoppers increasingly tighten their budgets in wake of the cost-of-living crisis.
Provisional forecasts by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), in conjunction with Roy Morgan, predict $66.8 billion will be spent in the November to 24 December Christmas trading period, in line with last year (up slightly by 0.1% or $74,000).
