Australian retailers are in for an early Christmas present with consumers expected to spend more than $18 billion this Christmas – a large portion of which will be spent in the next few days – reflecting an increase of $2.2 billion from last year's effort.
A survey of 1000 people, undertaken by the Commonwealth Bank (ASX: CBA), revealed that more than $7.9 billion will be laid out on Christmas gifts ($100 million more than last year), whilst $4.3 billion will be spent on Christmas holidays, with more to be outlaid on entertaining and other events.
It appears that Victoria and New South Wales residents will spend more on gifts than other states, with an average of $512 to be spent per person compared to $482 in Western Australia, $453 in South Australia and $430 in Australia overall.
This comes as excellent news for retailers such as Myer (ASX: MYR), David Jones (ASX: DJS), Harvey Norman (ASX: HVN) or JB Hi-Fi (ASX: JBH), which have struggled with poor consumer confidence as the after effects of the GFC continue to flow through the global economy.
Grocery giants Woolworths (ASX: WOW) and Wesfarmers (ASX: WES) should also be prepared and ensure they have enough staff and stock to maximise their returns for the busy period.
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