It seems the gloves were off this boxing day as a strong turnout of people made the most of the post-christmas sales - because as we all know, it’s hard to shop online with gloves on.
Boxing Day delivered us some incredible wins with our members spending big on a range of categories. The undisputed champion, however, was travel, which soared to new heights, reaching an incredible 294% increase in shops and a 451% increase in total transaction value when compared to Boxing Day sales in 2021.
We weren’t the only ones ‘saling’ away into the shopping-sunset, however. There were strong results across the entire Australian retail market, with Retailers Association Chief, Paul Zahara, reporting that department stores and the foodservice sector driving“unprecedented” Boxing Day sales growth across Australia, saying, “Australians splurged $1.23 billion – up 15.3 percent on 2021, and department-store sales of $149 million up by 23.6 percent(1).”
Mr Zahara went on to say, “Spending on household goods accounted for the highest share on Boxing Day, reaching $314.76 million, up by 14.3 per cent, followed by food and grocery retailing, up by a more modest 7.6 per cent to $264.52 million. Spending on apparel and accessories surged 19.8 per cent to $217.59 million(1).”
These knockout results were so impressive, Inside Retail even said, “Boxing Day has once again cemented its status as the Grand Final of Australia’s favourite sport, shopping(1).”
And with a strong end to the year comes the chance to start the next one even stronger. Retail Biz’s prediction for the first quarter of 2023 in the retail market claims, “Australians have started cutting back on non-essential goods and services.They are becoming more purpose driven (2).” Which means we’ll need some fancy footwork if we’re going to navigate these shoppers who are re-evaluating their purchasing decisions and focusing on essentials.
Sally Marsden, Head of B2B Marketing, Cashrewards says; “The cost of living and diversifying customer needs is where Cashrewards plays into our members' everyday spending habits with 85% of members believing Cashrewards helps them with their financial position. Furthermore, 60% of our members plan to increase their spending with Cashrewards retailers as a result of the current financial climate (3).”
Marsden also adds, ‘“Our 1st Quarter campaigns like ‘Back to school’, ‘Style Drop’ and ‘Valentine’s Day’ promote the essentials like school supplies, clothing and love and offer a great opportunity to start sparring with the new year (3).”
Retail Biz goes on to say, “Consumers are shopping smarter and want the convenience of shopping where they want when they want and how they want (2).” Which we’re pretty sure means that when they go looking for those things, many will go looking for them on Cashrewards.
So, if you’re as excited by these boxing day results as we are, and you’re keen to start your 2023 on the right foot, why not get in touch with the Cashrewards team and find out how you can get involved in our first quarter campaigns?
Sources:
(1) Stockdill, Robert. “Australians set records for pre- and post-Christmas retail spending.” Inside Retail, 30 December 2022, https://insideretail.com.au/business/australians-set-records-for-pre-and-post-christmas-retail-spending-202212.
(2) Bencic, Emily. “What retailers can expect this sales season and into 2023.” retailbiz, 20 December 2022, https://www.retailbiz.com.au/topics/omnichannel/what-retailers-can-expect-this-sales-season-and-into-2023/.
(3) Data from cost of living survey research & results July 2022