Hello Chasers,
The annual commemoration of the birth of Jesus Christ is a widely observed (and commercialised) holiday, celebrated on December 25th by billions of people around the world.
Leading up to the holiday, consumers will undoubtedly be in search of the perfect gifts for their loved ones and small businesses across the nation will experience increased traffic – on and offline.
Roy Morgan Research has partnered with the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) to model the expected retail sales in the run-up to Christmas and Roy Morgan’s data scientists are predicting pre-Christmas retail sales to reach a record high of $64 billion, up a strong 2% from 2021, despite the growing inflationary pressures. The average gift purchase is around $700, down slightly ($26) from last year. Sensory indulgence is a key theme for 2022, with alcohol and food topping the list of intended gift purchases for this year, followed by vouchers gifts and cards, toys, jigsaws and board games. Men were the most likely to purchase alcohol or food, whilst women were more interested in small inexpensive gifts or novelties, clothing shoes and sleepwear or books, music and even DVDs. Hospitality businesses are also set to flourish in the run-up to Christmas, with over $9 billion in trade predicted – up 16.3% in 2021.
Small businesses can still hope to meet consumer needs and demand (if they can keep adequate stock levels which may be hampered by delivery delays) while reaping the benefits of increased sales this holiday season by adopting some simple plans.
If your small business plans to do both this Christmas shopping season, here are four simple ways to get started:
Read more of our daily blogs in our Chasing the Dream Facebook Community
