Shoppers chasing a bargain boost retail sales for May

Shoppers hunting for a bargain lifted retail sales in May, according to new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).

Seasonally adjusted figures released today show Australian retail turnover rose 0.6 per cent in May, following a 0.1 per cent rise in April and 0.4 drop in March.

ABS head of business statistics Robert Ewing said the boost was attributed to shoppers taking advantage of early end-of-financial-year promotions and sales events.

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"Retail businesses continue to rely on discounting and sales events to stimulate discretionary spending, following restrained spending in recent months," Ewing said.

"Despite the seasonally adjusted rise, underlying spending remains stagnant with retail turnover flat in trend terms.

"Compared to May 2023, trend is only up 1.5 per cent."

The non-food sectors that saw the biggest turnover were clothing, footwear and accessory merchants with a 1.6 per cent jump after two consecutive falls in April and March.

In terms of food-related spending cafes, restaurant and takeaway services took a small dip of 0.1 per cent.

Food retailing rose 0.7 per cent but was driven largely by an increase in liquor retailing at 6.1 per cent.

"Many retailers started end-of-financial year sales early, offering larger discounts than usual and noted that shoppers remain price-sensitive in response to persistent cost-of-living pressures," Ewing said.

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