Clothing, footwear and accessories have benefited from a reported rise in retail spending.
Freshly released ABS retail sales data showed Australian sales rose 2.9 per cent in March 2012 compared with the same month in 2011.
The seasonally adjusted estimate for Australian turnover rose 0.9 per cent in March, higher than the 0.2 per cent econimists expected and the 0.3 per cent rise in February and 0.2 per cent in January.
In current prices, the trend estimate for Australian turnover rose 0.3 per cent in March 2012 following a rise of 0.3 per cent in February 2012 and of 0.2 per cent in January.
The ABS revealed that in volume terms, the seasonally adjusted estimate for the March quarter 2012 rose 1.8 per cent following a rise of 0.5 per cent in the December quarter and 0.5 per cent in the September quarter.
While food and cafe categories fared best, fashion categories also recorded steady growth.
In the March quarter 2012, the seasonally adjusted estimate rose in volume terms for both clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (3.2 per cent) and department stores (2.6 per cent).