Boxing Day sales, the bell lap of the longest annual shopping marathon, should give ACT retailers a boost after a volatile year of trading.
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The ACT recorded the weakest retailing sector in Australia in 2015, but rebounded after the federal government said the worst of the public sector cuts were over, only to issue another dose in December with the mid-year economic and fiscal outlook.
Despite the uncertainty major new outlets are making Canberra a bigger destination for regional shopping. Boutique offerings are trading at Braddon, the residential property sector continues to recover, and the lower dollar is expected to cool demand for on-line shopping.
The Australian Retailers Association is tipping post-Christmas-sales in the ACT to jump by 2.6 per cent from $288 million to $295 million, of which almost $50 million will be spent on Boxing day.
Canberra Business Chamber chief executive Robyn Hendry says 2015 has been a much improved year with strong growth figures, although in the context of 2014, coming off a soft base.
"We are seeing significant contrast and it is driven by the labour market," Ms Hendry said.
"Off the back of that we have seen a significant recovery, led by the labour market strengthening, increasing consumer confidence, and business confidence is in positive territory with quite a firm outlook for 2016," Ms Hendry said.
"The forecast growth for the year is somewhere between 2 and 5 per cent, that's a pretty good result, but that's coming off lacklustre results for several years prior," Ms Hendry said.
Ms Hendry says, according to commentators, growth would continue to pick up in 2016, subject to any actions from the federal government.
"We know the budget is going to be difficult, it is an election year too," she said. "We are conscious the budget is under pressure.
"Generally speaking we did a survey of business, we surveyed 170 businesses, something like 56 per cent of those were foreshadowing increased employment," Ms Hendry said.
"The other side of our market here, despite the federal government not really being expansionary, yet we have had more jobs created than we have lost this year. So other factors in the economy are working quite well in terms of job creation. So all of that will bode well for the new year."
Ms Hendry says new retail offerings had helped revitalise the ACT economy.
"We have Goulburn, Yass, Queanbeyan, even Eurobodalla Shire and the Snowy Mountains, they are all coming into Canberra for their [shopping] hub, so while on one filter IKEA, Costco, these large retailers put price pressure on smaller retailers, that's true. equally they will draw people from the region.
"We have a scale now, it gives us that extra economic hub positioning that perhaps we didn't have to the same degree.
"if you were on the South Coast and deciding where to go shopping, you may well err on the side of Sydney, rather than Canberra, without those large retail entrants."
Urban renewal around the Braddon precinct has bolstered the retail sector. "A lot of small, boutique retailers, quite distinctive, are not repeating what other people are doing, they are new offerings," Ms hendry said. "That again will revitalise people's spending locally rather than on-line, and will attract a visitor economy to do business here."
