Retail sales in Australia rose 2.4% in June, in the first full month of trade since the end of lockdown.
Turnover for the month rose to $29.7 billion, and was up 8.2% from a year ago.
Clothing, footwear and personal accessory spending surged 19%, but remained 6% lower from a year ago.
As international travel and travel spending pauses however, clothing retailers could continue to reap new revenue streams.
The overall retail rise in June followed a 16.9% surge in May.
EY chief economist Jo Masters said the result showed a buoyant June but warned retailers to stay prepared.
"These preliminary retail trade data showed a solid rise in spending in June, capturing the easing of restrictions and improving confidence through most of June.
"However, that is not an up-to-date picture as it doesn’t capture the impact of the Melbourne lockdown.
"Monitoring of consumer confidence and how people respond to the announced extension, but curtailing, of the JobSeeker and JobKeeper payments, as well as developments on the health front will be important for the retail sector in the next few months.
"We can expect the July retail sales to be less robust and serve as a reminder of the bumpy road to recovery.”