Record Christmas sales are predicted for South Australia this year with shoppers tipped to spend more than $4 billion in the lead up to December 25th. But, some small retailers say mounting cost of living pressures have tightened purse strings, hurting their pre-Christmas trade.
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00:00 Getting into the Christmas spending spirit.
00:04 My backpack is heavy by itself, it's got a totem tennis set in there now,
00:07 and a yoga mat and a yoga ball and something else,
00:09 so I'm actually struggling to make it home at the moment.
00:11 Oh rubbish.
00:12 Yeah, it's just a good day out and it's nice to get the Christmas feels.
00:15 Rundle Mall is predicting record sales this festive season,
00:19 despite mounting cost of living pressures.
00:22 Economists are suggesting that there'll be $86 million spent
00:25 in the lead up to Christmas here in the city,
00:29 and we've seen huge crowds already coming through.
00:33 Across town, market goers are also starting to stock up.
00:38 We've got our ham today, thank you.
00:40 I'm starting with the prawns and then everything else to go.
00:43 The Australian Retailers Association estimates South Australians
00:46 will spend just under $4.3 billion in the month leading up to Christmas.
00:52 Forecasting SA will be the only state where the festive spend beats last year's total.
00:57 But small retailers say they're experiencing the opposite.
01:01 We're finding sales a little bit soft this year compared to previous years.
01:05 I think it's a bit of a sign of the times.
01:07 I think people are watching their spend.
01:09 Obviously cost of living's gone up quite a bit.
01:12 It has been a bit slower than it has been in previous years,
01:14 so I think the weather hasn't helped,
01:17 and also we're a bit hit by the car race not being good for us,
01:21 and also Black Friday is not good for us,
01:23 so that tends to be better for bigger businesses.
01:25 With just nine sleeps to go until Christmas, retailers are urging shoppers to buy local.
01:30 All traders rely on Christmas sales to get them through,
01:34 because it does go a bit quiet through the January months.
01:37 Hoping for a last minute splurge before Father Christmas comes to town.
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