Australian retail turnover fell 0.4% in December 2018, seasonally adjusted, according to the latest Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) retail trade figures.
This follows a 0.5% rise in November 2018.
ABS director of quarterly economic wide surveys Ben James said the drop in comparison to November turnover can be attributed to Black Friday promotions.
“Household goods (-2.8%) and clothing and footwear (-2.4%) led the falls after strong rises in November from Black Friday promotions.
“There were also falls in department stores (-1.1%) and other retailing (-0.1%).”
In seasonally adjusted terms, there were falls in New South Wales (-0.6%), Victoria (-0.5%), the Australian Capital Territory (-1.8%), Queensland (-0.1%), South Australia (-0.3%), the Northern Territory (-0.3%) and Tasmania (-0.2%).
The only state to have risen in December 2018 was Western Australia (0.1%).
Online retail turnover contributed 5.6% to total turnover in original terms in December 2018, down from 6.6% in November 2018, highlighting the increasing importance of the November month for online sales.
In December 2017 online retail turnover contributed 4.8% to total retail.
The trend estimate for Australian retail turnover rose 0.2% in December 2018, following a rise of 0.2% in November 2018.
Compared to December 2017, the trend estimate rose 3.2%.
For the December quarter 2018, there was a 0.1% rise in seasonally adjusted volume terms.
This follows a rise of 0.2% in the September quarter 2018.
The quarterly rise in volumes was led by clothing and footwear (2.7%), and department stores (0.7%).
The results revealed that throughout the entire Christmas trade period - half of November and all of December - Australians spent $48.7 billion on retail sales, compared to $47.5 billion in 2017.
The National Retail Association (NRA) said the results show the urgent need for measures that support small businesses in the sector.
NRA CEO Dominique Lamb said that although the results for the overall Christmas period were slightly up on 2017, December figures were below what was anticipated.
"Before people start hitting the panic buttons, it should be pointed out that retail sales figures for the entire Christmas trade period were slightly above the 2017 results.
"Having said that, the December results released by the ABS are well below what was anticipated.
"Given we are just months our from a federal election, these results should serve as a warning to all sides of politics that parts of the retail sector are struggling as we enter 2019.
"Retail is the second biggest sector in the Australian economy, so when it goes through a challenging period there is a knock-on effect throughout the economy.
"While the retail community certainly doesn't look to government for all answers, it is during slow periods such as these that measures are required that assist small business.
"The NRA welcomed the Government's announcement last week to extend the instant asset write-off and we also appreciate Labor's policy to make the scheme permanent.
"But there is still more that can be done to help small business thrive in areas right across industrial relations and we hope to see policies ahead of the upcoming federal election that support small business."