The countdown to Christmas has begun with consumers and businesses gearing up for a busy shopping period. But with online sales lasting longer every year, small businesses say they can not compete.
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00:00It is the season for spending and for retailers it truly is the most wonderful time of the
00:11year.
00:12Black Friday is around the corner so Black Friday and Christmas should be a great boost.
00:18Local Darwin store owner Lisa Richards says with Black Friday sales getting longer every
00:23year the festive fever is kicking in early.
00:27A lot of people are doing their Christmas shopping during that period with all the sales
00:30and discounts.
00:31But while longer sales are a boon for major online marketers Lisa says it's not helping
00:37local businesses like hers.
00:39As in an independent we can't be on sale as long as them and we do just have a much shorter
00:45window.
00:46Greg Island from the NT Chamber of Commerce says it's been a challenging year for small
00:50business operators.
00:52The electricity costs and insurances and crime and all those things that have been impacting
00:57He says the coming month will be crucial.
01:00We really are looking forward to people using a store with a door and actually getting into
01:05our local businesses.
01:07But with families feeling the squeeze spending across the nation has slowed.
01:11The Northern Territory however seems to be bucking the trend spending growing by 3% during
01:17the September quarter.
01:19Still the high cost of travel to the Territory and an increased pressure on household budgets
01:24is having an effect.
01:26More people have less cash in their pockets.
01:28Shopkeepers in the city relying on the last minute dash in the days before Christmas to
01:32give them a lift.
01:34Two weeks before Christmas it starts to pick up again and then three days before Christmas
01:39everyone is going crazy.
01:42It's a busy time for delivery services too so if you want to make sure that Santa makes
01:47it to your loved ones down south, Auspost recommends getting your parcels in by December
01:5316.
01:54And for those of us who are a little bit more unorganised, December 20 is your cut off for
01:59Express Post.
02:00Ho, ho, ho.