The National Retail Association (NRA) is remaining optimistic amid lacklustre retail sales results for the first half of the year.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS) had projected a 0.3% growth in sales with the total only reaching 0.2% seasonally adjusted.
Clothing, footwear and accessories retailers have seen strong growth with a 0.8% increase although department stores have experienced a -0.1% dip.
NRA industry research and data analyst Cameron Meiklejohn weighed growth by state from last year.
“Growth in New South Wales and Victoria are 5% and 4.3% respectively, seasonally adjusted, compared with the national figure of 3.6%.
“Further, Queensland is at just 1.2% growth seasonally adjusted, compared with the same time last year.”
The Australian Capital Territory (ACT) has been the strongest performer in the first half of 2016 with 0.5% rise.