Retail turnover rose 0.4 per cent in November 2015 following a rise of 0.6 per cent in October 2015, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) Retail Trade figures.

The trend estimate rose 4.1 per cent compared to November 2014.

In original terms, online retail turnover accounted for 3.3 per cent of total retail turnover.

Total retail spending was $24.77 billion in November, up from $24.66 billion in October says the ABS.

The National Retail Association (NRA) has welcomed the growth of 4.1 per cent for November compared with last year’s result and says that Australian retailers are poised to record their strongest year since the global financial crisis.

Further economic modelling by the NRA is pointing to year-on-year growth of close to six per cent in December, making 2015 the best year for Australian retailers since the GFC.

“Feedback from our members has been that the pre-Christmas sales period was particularly strong, so we would expect to see these strong results repeated again when the December figures are published,” said NRA CEO, Trevor Evans.

“Based on the information we’ve received in recent weeks, we are now projecting a total spend for the holiday period of around $45.1 billion – an increase of 5.7 per cent compared with 2014.”

Turnover rose across all major categories, including department stores (0.6 per cent), household goods (0.6 per cent), food retailing (0.3 per cent), cafes, restaurants and takeaways (0.2 per cent), and clothing, footwear and personal accessories (0.2 per cent).

Victoria was the strongest performing state, with monthly growth of 0.6 per cent, followed by Tasmania (0.5 per cent), New South Wales (0.4 per cent), South Australia (0.3 per cent), and Queensland, the Northern Territory and the Australian Capital Territory (all 0.2 per cent).

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