Shoppers might be busy spending up at the post-Christmas sales, but new figures are expected to reveal retail sales got off to a modest start ahead of the recent festive season.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics is due to release its November retail sales figures on Friday, and industry watchers believe the data will show a small rise as shoppers hit the stores to buy early Christmas presents.
Spending is forecast to have risen 0.4 per cent in the month, following an increase of 0.5 per cent in October, seasonally adjusted.
CommSec chief economist Craig James says low petrol prices, historic-low interest rates and an improving job market have been helping retail sales.
"Petrol is the single biggest purchase that people have to make, and having to fork out less at the petrol pump will give you extra dollars to channel elsewhere," he said.
"I don't think consumers are spending up in a big way but certainly a number of retailers have noted that the environment is encouraging at the moment."
Annual growth for retail spending is holding at about four per cent at the moment, which is about in line with the longer term averages, Mr James said.
He said the outlook also looks good, with petrol prices tipped to stay low, the housing market to remain healthy and businesses putting on more staff.
"There's still gyrations in things like the sharemarket that people have to contend with but generally people are reasonably happy with the state of their finances," he said.
People's perceptions of their family finances compared with 12 months ago are at the highest level in seven years, according to weekly ANZ-Roy Morgan consumer confidence data released on Tuesday.
Australian Retailers Association executive director Russell Zimmerman also expects retail sales to have risen in November.
"It's the prelude up to Christmas, and the smart shopper starts to buy early in the last half of November," he said.
Bargain hunters are expected to have splurged a record $2.3 billion nationwide when the latest sales launched on Boxing Day.
"And anecdotally, most retailers reported extremely strong sales, we were probably a bit light on with our projections," Mr Zimmerman said.
The ARA predicts Australians to pour a massive $17 billion into retail coffers during the overall post-Christmas clearance period, which runs between December 26 and January 15.
