Apparel, footwear and department stores are set to see a surge in sales in line with the new school year.
The Australian Retailers Association (ARA) believe that the spike could be a contributing factor towards an estimated $16.8 billion post-Christmas spend up.
ARA executive director Russell Zimmerman said that it's the most promising time of the year children's clothing and footwear retailers as well as speciality stores.
“While Christmas and Boxing Day sales are most definitely the busiest times for retail stores across the board, there are certain retailers, such as children’s footwear shops and uniform sellers that derive the bulk of their business from back to school sales.
“Back to school is a milestone each year for students around the country, and the associated purchases that the new school year brings are crucial to many small and large retailers.”
Zimmerman also said that while parents may flock to online channels to purchase electronic goods such as laptops and tablets, apparel retailers should see positive traffic and growth in store.
“Of course, back to school spending does not mean the end of the post-Christmas January sales, we’ll see those discounts continuing right throughout the month, with most stores still offering significant savings across the board.
“The next big discounting period after January will be mid-year sales in June, so I would encourage shoppers to make sure they don’t miss out.”