Kids winners in Christmas spending spree

Pre-Christmas spending estimates compiled by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA) and Roy Morgan Research suggest Australians will spend a whopping $46.7 billion between mid-November and December 24.

That is an increase of 3.6 per cent on spending over the same period in 2014.

Shoppers in Western Australian are expected to spend close to $5.4 billion, an increase of 2.7 per cent on last year’s total.

People in New South Wales are expected to spend the most of any state or territory in Australia with $14.85 billion.

Shoppers in the Northern Territory are predicted to spend the least with estimated sales at $493 million.

ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman said he was confident that retailers would see a plenty of customers in their stores over the coming weeks.

“While the week before Christmas is traditionally the biggest shopping week of the year, there’s plenty of consumers who like to be prepared and get in early, with a good deal of Aussies starting to tick items off their Christmas lists from mid-November onwards,” he said.

More than 40 per cent of the $46.7 billion will be spent on food, with $8 billion to be spent on household goods.

In terms of gifts, Mr Zimmerman said games and toys would be popular.

“The ARA expects spending on toys to spike significantly in the coming weeks as Santa, along with parents and families, stock up on gifts for the kids,” he said.

“For adults this Christmas we’ll see a rise in products generally seen as traditional gift purchases, such as apparel and perfume, while electronics and technology is also predicted to be a money spinner for retailers this Christmas.”

Australian re-gifters

More than half of us are likely to forward on a present given to us this Christmas, a survey has revealed.

Grooming products are most likely to be re-gifted, with more than one third of the 1007 people surveyed by Menulog placing the toiletry at the top of their unwanted list.

Underwear and socks were also largely undesired.

People most likely to re-gift are those under 20, with 65 per cent of those surveyed from that category admitting to re-gifting.