Lockdowns take toll on retail trade

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July 22 2021
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Lockdowns hurt retailers in June, but the big picture trends around consumer spending tell a different story.

Recent lockdowns in Greater Sydney and Victoria have coincided with a fall in Australia’s retail turnover.

New figures released this week by the Australian Bureau of Statistics have revealed that Australia’s retail turnover rate slipped 1.8 per cent in June 2021.

Ben James, the ABS’ director of quarterly economy wide surveys, attributed the fall in sales activity “to the impact of coronavirus restrictions across multiple states”.

Victoria was the worst affected with a fall of 3.5 per cent in retail turnover, NSW followed behind at 2 per cent.

While Queensland didn’t quite go into lockdown, the ABS found that retail turnover was still down 1.5 per cent “due to stay-at-home restrictions and reduced interstate mobility”.

“Other states and territories saw interrupted trade due to mini lockdowns, as well as reduced mobility between states with the tightening of border restrictions,” they said.

The ABS’ findings line up with similar findings during June by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

CBA’s most recent Household Spending Intentions report found that retail spending intentions “softened” in June relative to the previous year, “continuing the high level of volatility seen in recent months”.

CBA chief economist Stephen Halmarick said that in addition to recent lockdowns, these trends also factor in “the pick-up in spending as the country came out of the initial lockdown last year”.

Mr Halmarick also noted the overall increase in spending intentions relative to 2019. Specifically, he cited increases in consumer spending on health, fitness and education relative to the pre-pandemic.

“Comparing June 2021 to June 2019 showed a much stronger picture, with a solid increase across most retail spending categories. This included spending on: clothing and footwear, bakeries, grocery stores and supermarkets, department stores, household furniture and equipment, pharmacies, personal care and recreation,” the report said.

According to Mr Halmarick, there was also an uptick when it came to spending on “commercial and professional sports and club memberships” amid changes to restrictions in June and the ability by consumers to attend relevant events and venues.

Unfortunately, “this has changed again in July with the lockdowns in Greater Sydney and Melbourne”.

About the author

Fergus is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He likes to write about money, markets, how innovation is changing the financial landscape and how younger consumers can achieve their goals in unpredictable times.

About the author

Fergus is a journalist for Momentum Media's nestegg and Smart Property Investment. He likes to write about money, markets, how innovation is changing the financial landscape and how younger consumers can achieve their goals in unpredictable times.

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