Local and online business are hoping to trigger their Christmas holidays campaign with a wide range of Black Friday offers that are set to kick-start an estimated increase in retail sales of almost $53 billion.
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Black Friday is a popular sales day in the US, being the first Friday after Thanksgiving and signalling the start of Christmas shopping.
As Google Trends data shows Google searches for Black Friday in Australia grew from three points to a total of 100 in the last month, the question posed is where consumers will buy their goods.
Australian market research company Roy Morgan and the Australian Retailers Association forecast an increase of 2.6 per cent on the $51.4 billion of retail expenditure registered in 2018.
The groups predict $7.6 billion of this total sales number during this year's Christmas trading period will belong to the "other retailing" category.
This category includes online sales - a main player in Black Friday's sales.
Online shopping giant eBay predicted that for the first time Black Friday will be the busiest day of the year for Australians shopping online.
"Traditionally we've seen our busiest shopping day fall in December but the rise in popularity of Black Friday has spurred an earlier start to the Christmas retail season," eBay Australia's Head of Retail Insights Gavin Dennis said.
The ARA and Roy Morgan predicted increase of "Other retailing" would mean a 3.7 per cent increase compared to last year's festive season.
In answer to this forecasts, many retailers are encouraging consumers to "ditch the digital this year in favour of an unplugged experience."
Deloitte's Christmas Survey 2019 also reveals retailers expect to begin discounting earlier this year, partly due to the impact of Black Friday sales.
Australian Associated Press
