Clothing retailers and department stores recorded strong sales growth in the Australian retail sector last year despite lagging economic conditions.
Deloitte's latest findings revealed that overall retail sales across the sector rose to 2.4% in 2015-16.
Despite a positive increase, the results indicate a dip in spending from 2014-15 which contributed to 3.3% sales growth.
Deloitte has predicted lower growth rates for 2016-17 to 2.3%.
The arrival of major global players are also predicted to pose competitive challenges for Australian retailers, while employment growth and consumer confidence will underpin positive opportunities for the sector.
In terms of state-by-state performance, New South Wales, Victoria, South Australia, Tasmania and the ACT have recorded strong spending results, while Queensland and Western Australia are set to perform poorly due to a downturn in mining investment.
Clothing, footwear and personal accessories seems to have secured itself from a decline in sales, following results released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) recording a 4.7% growth in January.
The findings also flag troubling times for commodity prices and national income growth due to a slump in the Chinese market.