WA Shoppers are tipped to have spent nearly $2.8 billion this Christmas.
Although final figures will not be available until early February, reports from retailers suggest that retail spending and consumer confidence have been maintained throughout December 2007 and into early January 2008.
It should come as little surprise that the tentacles of Western Australia's booming economy appear to have extended to the retail sector, wrapping themselves firmly around the cash register - much to the delight of many business owners.
The retail trend over the past few years has been extremely positive with the December 2007 forecast showing a 7.3 per cent increase - $189 million over the previous year's Christmas turnover. Last December was a retail record with $2.6 billion in sales.
As expected with the holiday season, key items in demand included toys (especially the latest in Nintendo games, with the new Wii model completely sold out in WA), CD's and DVD's, and the ever-favourite Christmas gift lines such as perfume, cosmetics, jewellery and small appliances. Sporting and recreational items also featured high on the list, with household goods such as big screen plasma and LCD TV's in big demand.
The sharp increase in gift voucher sales this year provided a fairly strong indicator as to which direction the ensuing post Christmas sales would take - attracting record crowds at many of the stores.
Boxing Day was not only a huge success in Rockingham and Mandurah, but also for Fremantle, which benefited from a head-start in the sales frenzy by opening doors to cashed up consumers a full day before its metropolitan counterparts. Despite record crowds, long queues and the searing heat of December's hottest day in history, WA shoppers' Christmas spirit appeared to remain intact without any reports of 'shopper rage' incidents.
The Western Australian shoppers who were presented with outstanding bargains in the post Christmas sales responded with an outstanding retail spend - it seems this season's Christmas tune has been a hit all around for retailers and consumers alike!
BY WAYNE SPENCER
Director, Retail Traders Association