Pre-Christmas 'freedom spending' retail sales outpace inflation to hit record $74.5 billion

Australian shoppers have put to bed any concerns that Black Friday-Cyber Monday (BFCM) would dampen December retail sales, defying expectations to spend a record $74.5 billion in the pre-Christmas period.

Figures released by the Australian Retailers Association’s (ARA) in partnership with Westpac DataX show this represents an 8.6 per cent uptick versus 2021.

The rise in retail spending is also higher than the most recent annual inflation rates reported by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), which stood at 6.9 per cent in October and 7.3 per cent in September.

Read More: https://www.businessnewsaustralia.com/articles/pre-christmas--freedom-spending--retail-sales-outpace-inflation-to-hit-record--74-5-billion.html