Aussies Record Surprising Boxing Day Splurge Growth

Australia’s pre-Christmas spending splurge has defied expectations, reaching a record-breaking $74.5 billion.

According to data by Australian Retailers Association’s (ARA) partnership with Westpac DataX, the massive increase was up 8.6 per cent from last year.

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Boxing Day trading also saw unprecedented growth, up 15.3 per cent from last year, to notch a massive $1.23 billion spend for the day.

ARA CEO Paul Zahra said it’s an unparalleled result after several years of disruption.

“It is remarkable that in this period of economic turbulence, traders have well and truly smashed it out of the ballpark as consumers reveled in ‘freedom’ spending,” he said.

“The last three years have been incredibly challenging for everybody – and retail traders were certainly no exception. The resilience and agility of the industry has been remarkable.

“There are many elements driving this record spend. Australians are seeing shopping as an experience and a reward after such a challenging period.

“We also know that price increases continue to elevate these numbers with many Australians also motivated to get in ahead of price rises and leverage savings during the sales events.”

Shrugging off adversity, department stores drove the greatest growth on Boxing Day – up a whopping 23.6 per cent on last year – to reap $149.4 million in sales.

Cafes, restaurants and takeaway food services were up 22.8 per cent and clothing and apparel 19.8 per cent.

“These fabulous results really tie a bow on an extremely successful year for retail as we head into a period of greater uncertainty in 2023,” Mr Zahra said.

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