Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales are expected to hit $6.36 billion across the four-day promotional weekend.
Research by the Australian Retailers Association (ARA), in partnership with Roy Morgan, predicted this would be 3% up from last year.
This comes as pre-Christmas spending is tipped to remain largely flat in 2023, with both ARA and Roy Morgan predicting sales to hit $66.8 billion from November to December 24 - up by just 0.1% or $74,000.
It is expected many Aussie shoppers will use the sales event to purchase gifts for Christmas.
“While projections are looking somewhat flat for the pre-Christmas period, retailers will be pleased that the Black Friday weekend sales event appears set to buck this trend,” ARA CEO Paul Zahra said.
“The Black Friday sales are the biggest pre-Christmas event on the retail calendar and its popularity only continues to grow in Australia.
“Similar to Halloween, Black Friday started off as an American shopping tradition, but has become a global phenomenon, with millions of Aussies set to take part again this year.”
Zahra said the 3% lift on last year is an increase of $188 million.
“More and more consumers are being budget-conscious in light of the cost-of-living crisis, so the Black Friday sales are an ideal time to grab a bargain and save some unnecessary stress the weeks before Christmas.”