Clothing, footwear and accessories retailing fell 3.6% in January, new data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics indicates.
The segment fell a total of $86.3 million in the month, following a 9.4% decline in December.
By industry subgroup, clothing retailing fell 6.1% (-$101.1 million) while footwear and accessories rose 2% ($14.8 million).
Throughout January many footwear retailers were running 'Back to School' campaigns, which may be behind the rise in the footwear category.
Meanwhile, department stores declined in January, with the segment slipping 0.4% (-$6.4 million).
Overall, the ABS reports that retail turnover rose 0.5% month-on-month, while in year-on-year terms, the sector rose 10.6% compared to January 2020.
Online sales made up 9.1% of total sales in January, compared to 6.3% in January last year.
National Retail Association CEO Dominique Lamb welcomed the positive figures.
"There has been promising economic news in recent days, as Australia seeks to rebound from the COVID recession.
"The ABS has revealed that the economy grew by a substantial 3.1% in the December quarter.
"To put that into context, it’s the first time in more than 60 years that we’ve had two consecutive quarters of growth exceeding 3%.
"In addition, the ABS also revealed that retail sales nationwide grew by 0.5% in January.
"No doubt the sector continues to be aided by Australians having irregular levels of discretionary spending power, but the results are pleasing given the first month of the year is generally a quiet one for retail following the Christmas rush," she said.