Renos becoming viral

HOME reno fever across Queensland helped retail trade soar back to life in May.

The May retail data released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics on Friday revealed monthly sales of hardware, building and garden supplies increased by 37 per cent since the start of COVID-19 restrictions.

Queensland residents spent $466 million on hardware and building supplies in May compared to an average monthly spend of $336 million in 2019.

Nationally, seasonally adjusted numbers showed retail turnover volumes for May surged by 16.9 per cent compared to the previous month.

It came after a 17.7 per cent plunge in April, when retailing fell off a cliff because of a collapse in household consumption.

Clothing and footwear retailing experienced a significant upswing of 129.2 per cent, while department stores posted a monthly rise of 44.4 per cent.

Cafes, restaurants and takeaways services booked a month-on-month increase of 30.3 per cent. Total food retailing in seasonally adjusted terms rose by 7.2 per cent.

Spending on clothing and eating out is still below 2019 levels.

Brisbane data firm Grafa’s chief information officer Dan Petrie said the jump in D.I. Y spending by Queenslanders pointed to home projects being brought forward.

“This is quite a healthy outcome in both stimulating hardware sales but also by keeping people occupied,” he said. “From a statistical point of view, you have to go back 40 years to a time where the turnover within hardwares was commensurate with cafes and restaurants.”

The ABS figures also revealed that online sales contributed to 10.1 per cent of total retail turnover in May, which was a 1 per cent drop on April.

“The gradual easing of social distancing regulations, and the reopening of physical stores, bolstered retail trade in May,” said Ben James, director of the ABS’s quarterly economy wide surveys.

“Retailers across a range of industries reported high numbers of consumers returning to stores.”