Australian Retail Sales surprise to the upside at 0.4%

Aussie seasonally-adjusted Retail Sales for November managed to beat expectations, clocking in at 0.4% versus the expected 0.3% (previous figure same).

Key highlights (via ABS)

The seasonally adjusted estimate rose 0.4% in November 2018. This follows a rise of 0.3% in October 2018, and a rise of 0.2% in September 2018.

In trend terms, Australian turnover rose 3.6% in November 2018 compared with November 2017.

The following industries rose in trend terms in November 2018: Food retailing (0.2%), Household goods retailing (0.4%), Other retailing (0.4%), Clothing, footwear and personal accessories retailing (0.5%), and Cafes, restaurants and takeaway services retailing (0.1%). Department stores was relatively unchanged (0.0%).

Online retail turnover contributed 6.6 per cent to total retail turnover in original terms in November 2018, a rise from 5.9 per cent in October 2018. This is the highest level recorded in the series and continues a pattern of increasing online contributions to total sales in November. In November 2017 online retail turnover contributed 5.5 per cent to total retail.