Thousands of people are braving the crowds this morning at the Boxing Day sales, with spending expected to hit a record 1.3 billion dollars. Reporter Mikaela Ortolan has the details from Melbourne.
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00:00Well, Australians are expected to spend a record $1.3 billion this Boxing Day.
00:08That's an increase of about 1.8% compared to last year.
00:12Now, it is quite surprising given we are experiencing a cost of living crisis at the moment, but
00:17the Australian Retailers Association says that this rise in spending is partly a result
00:23of that cost of living crisis.
00:25We're seeing a lot of people doing their research and waiting for sales like Boxing
00:30Day before they head down to the shops and actually spend money.
00:34Population growth is also another reason why people are spending more money.
00:37There's simply more people at the shops.
00:39Inflation is contributing as well.
00:42It's costing us a lot more money for certain items.
00:45And then you've got other things like the supply chain costs, which naturally are increasing
00:52and consumers are the ones that have to absorb those costs.
00:55So the categories where people are spending the most money, top of the list is household
01:00goods, which we're expected to spend about $378 million there.
01:05Second on the list is food, where we're expected to spend $296 million.
01:11Now that's followed by clothing, footwear and accessories, so people looking to buy
01:15themselves a little something this Boxing Day.
01:18And we've also got department stores, other retailing and hospitality on the list as well.
01:23Now we did hear a little bit from the National Retail Association earlier today.
01:28Here's what they had to say.
01:29These big sales events present a great opportunity for savvy buyers to get great discounts.
01:36And so we saw that at the Black Friday sales, we'll definitely see it today and across the
01:41next couple of days for Boxing Day sales.
01:44And it gives families a great opportunity to stock up on essentials and get prepared
01:48for the year ahead.
01:50And for those with school aged children, there are great, great discounts available on offer
01:55for back to school.
01:57So these big spending that we're expected to see is going to last well into the new
02:02year.
02:03So from the 26th, which is today, until the 15th of January, Australians are forecast
02:07to spend $24.7 billion and again, that is an increase on what we saw for the same time
02:14period the year before.
02:16There's no surprise that New South Wales and Victoria are the most, the top spending states
02:21across the country.
02:22New South Wales is coming in at number one, spending $1.1 billion.
02:26Victoria is following closely behind.
02:30Now there is a message for people who are out shopping today to be cautious of dodgy
02:35deals.
02:36Just because something says that it is on sale doesn't necessarily mean it's the best
02:40deal that you can find.
02:41So as many, many people go down to the shops to try to find that bargain, just make sure
02:46you're doing your research well and truly in advance.
02:48All right, Michaela, there might be some good deals, so I'm curious, will you yourself be
02:52doing any shopping today?
02:55Probably not.
02:56This is as close as I really want to get to the shops on a day like today, but we will
02:59definitely be going into the shops a little later today, having a chat to people who are
03:03there and also finding out what items are those number one items on the list where people
03:08are trying to find those bargains.
03:09Yeah, I totally get you and wanting to avoid the crowds.
03:11Michaela, thanks a lot for your update.