Page 9 - Retail World March 2021

RETAIL TURNOVER INCREASES IN JANUARY RAustralian retail turnover increased 0.6 per cent in January, seasonally adjusted, according to preliminary retail trade figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics. etail turnover grew by 10.7 per cent in January this year, compared with January 2020. “There continues to be variations in retail sales between states and territories, as Covid-19 restrictions are tightened or eased in different parts of the country,” Quarterly Economy Wide Surveys Director Ben James said. “All states and territories increased in January, except Queensland (down 1.5 per cent), where a three-day lockdown impacted trade. NSW (one per cent) led the increases, as restrictions that began in December were eased during January.” Food retailing led the increases by industry, as supermarkets recovered from a decline in December 2020. There were declines in clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing, household goods retailing, and department stores, which all felt impacts from interrupted trade in Queensland. National Retail Association CEO Dominique Lamb says the steady rise in monthly sales indicates good news, but uncertainty remains until the pandemic is over. “The preliminary retail figures for January are promising, showing a solid monthly increase,” she said. “The first month of the year is generally a bit slow following the Christmas rush. However, domestic retail certainly benefited from consumers unable to travel overseas for holidays. “Queensland appears to be the only state to have gone backwards in January, no doubt due to the three- day hard lockdown. This underlines the fact that while the possibility of hard lockdowns remains, a degree of business uncertainty will remain. “Also, assistance measures such as JobKeeper are due to end \[soon\] and this will likely reduce discretionary spending. “An efficient and successful rollout of the Covid vaccine will be critical to removing the potential for hard lockdowns, providing business certainty and ensuring a timely economic recovery.” Australian Retailers Association CEO Paul Zahra says that while it’s pleasing to see sales strengthen through January, there are pockets of retail at breaking point with the looming end of JobKeeper. “Retailers had a really strong finish to the year and that’s now continued through to January,” he said. “However it doesn’t paint a complete picture of what the sector is going through. “While the unemployment rate is trending down and house prices are strong, our economic recovery is uneven and there are still pockets of retail across the country that will suffer when the JobKeeper and JobSeeker schemes wind up. “According to ARA strategic partner Deloitte, close to $5 billion less in government support will be flowing through the economy each month. “Travel retailers in particular are at breaking point and are preparing to shed thousands of jobs. These are businesses operating within airports and CBD tourist shopping strips, which remain largely deserted. “Some businesses, like duty free shops, have lost 90 per cent of their revenue since the pandemic started. Many cannot afford to hang on any longer. “International borders aren’t going to reopen any time soon, and these businesses will have no option but to close unless there’s additional federal government support. They’re in crisis through no fault of their own. “Overall, while we don’t believe we’ll face a fiscal cliff, sales are expected to soften throughout the year as we’re continuing to live with the uncertainty of Covid. “As we’ve seen in Victoria \[recently\], new cases can emerge at any time and retailers are operating at the whim of the different premiers in terms of how they might respond with lockdowns and restrictions. “Even with the imminent rollout of the vaccines, this uncertainty will continue for some time and we repeat our calls for a nationally consistent approach around Covid restrictions, with clear criteria, so businesses can at least operate with some sort of confidence.” NEWS MAR, 2021 RETAIL WORLD 7