Discover the top-line performance metrics across Australian fashion in this new partnered content series with The Retail Score.
The Retail Score is teaming up with Ragtrader to share a first-of-its-kind Fashion Retail Index, revealing top-line performance metrics across the clothing, footwear and accessories industry.
Using anonymised data from thousands of retail stores that use The Retail Score services, we have segmented an aggregation of fashion retailers to provide you with a current and focused view of the state of the Australian fashion industry.
This includes metrics on total and like-for-like sales industry-wide, and across segments and channels. Like-for-like growth metrics remove sales from any recently opened or closed stores that can distort performance.
The Retail Score will also share insights and perspectives as to the variables that are most impacting performance, including pricing, discounting, transaction sizes and margins.
The series begins with a look at May 2026.
Results came in at a positive +2.2% sales growth versus last year. This was the best month we have seen in the Index since last October and a significant lift on the results in March (0.7%) and April (1.1%). Interestingly, the growth was driven by a lift in both sales transactions and volume (unit sales), something that we have not seen all year.
The Retail Score index also breaks data by four channels – Standalone stores, Outlet stores, Online and Concessions (in the main department stores). Results for May were mixed, with Online being the key growth driver up 5.8%, whilst Standalone stores grew a modest 1.4% and Outlet (0.7%) and Concessions (0.1%) considerably softer.
The underlying data showed significant discounting taking place, a topic that we will delve into more next month.
A note from our sponsor: The Retail Score Index is open for all retailers to participate in. Those retailers who agree to share data with the Retail Score get the benefit of data updated weekly, every Monday evening. The data contains a broad range of measures that extend well beyond basic sales data and reports across multiple location segments, including postcode.
Visit The Retail Score or email them at enquiry@theretailscore.com to learn more.