The clothing, footwear and personal accessories retail category remained relatively unchanged (0.0%) in May, according to new figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS).
However, by industry subgroup, the ABS reports that clothing retailing fell 0.4% (-$7.3 million) in May, while footwear and other personal accessory retailing rose 0.8% ($6.6 million) in the month.
Meanwhile, department stores declined 0.7% (-$11.3 million) in May.
Overall, the ABS reports that retail turnover rose 0.4% in month-on-month terms in May, updating the 0.1% rise from the preliminary Retail Trade release.
When compared to May 2020, retail turnover rose 7.7% in May 2021.
National Retail Association (NRA) CEO Dominque Lamb said that while the figures are encouraging, the recent lockdowns are likely to have a significant impact on the upcoming retail results.
"The May results are very good for retail, with a strong increase on the April results which is also promising when you consider the month is generally a quiet one for the sector.
"It shows that when the economy is relatively open that business is going well, but as the recent spate of state lockdowns has shown there remains uncertainty.
"Retailers understand the need to keep the public safe but even short lockdowns can have a massive effect on the economy.
"While the May ABS figures are very good, we’re likely to see less promising results in June and July," she said.