Increased sales growth due to Black Friday and Cyber Monday promotions has boosted the Australian retail sector. Sales in November set turnover to a record $27.9 billion, with a growth rate of 3.3 per cent, the fastest increase the sector has had in 13 months.
eStore logistics data reported that fulfilment volumes were up 319 per cent on average 2019 volumes and up 59 per cent compared to black Friday last year.
The balance on goods and services in November 2019 increased by $1.7 million on the surplus in October 2019, according to figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics last week.
The November bounce set turnover sales to a record $27.9 billion and at a growth of 3.3 per cent it’s the fastest increase the sector has had in 13 months.
eStore logistics founder and managing director Leigh Williams said their customer self-service portal allows real-time tracking of orders, resulting in a more streamlined process.
“This year we shipped over 99.5% per cent of orders within one business day during the sales period,” Leigh said.
eStore utilise the Manhattan Associates tier one warehouse management system (WMS) SCALE, which calculates the most suitable and cheapest carrier to send to client orders.
“Using eStore’s freight optimisation software they have been able to enjoy double digit freight savings during this peak period,” Leigh said.
Sales throughout the month of November increased by 0.9 per cent which was more than double the 0.4 per cent expected by economists.
According to data released by Australia Post, more than 2.5 million parcels were delivered following the click frenzy of Black Friday and Cyber Monday – up by 12 per cent on last year’s effort.
There were also 300,000 parcels delivered across that weekend, and almost 400 tonnes of freight uplifted across the air network, capitalising on the additional six aircraft in the dedicated freighter fleet, bringing capacity to 15 freighters.
Australia Post Group Chief Operating Officer Bob Black said Australians have embraced relatively new international shopping traditions.
“Right across the country we’ve had new facilities and new automation come online,” Bob said.
“We’ve been able to process more parcels than ever before.”
Suggesting click frenzy promotions are having an impact, the ABS reported that online sales accelerated 7.1 per cent in November and department store sales accounted for 3.4 per cent of total retail turnover.
QLD, ACT and NT sales rose by 0.5 per cent, contributing to the nation’s 2 per cent rise of exported goods and services that jumped to $706 million over the month.
Quarterly trade data from September shows the export sector continues to strengthen too.
Federal Trade Minister Simon Birmingham said this result demonstrated that Australian exporters were reaping the benefits from increased access to markets.
“Greater export opportunities for Australian farmers and businesses continues to be a major factor in our strong export performance,” Minister Birmingham said.