Consumers are still cutting back on spending as tax cuts and successive interest rate cuts have failed to stimulate Australia's retail sector.

 

Retail spending was significantly worse than expected, according to the latest Bureau of Statistics figures.

 

In September, retail sales lifted by 0.2 per cent to $27.6 billion in September (seasonally adjusted).

 

It was much less than forecast (+0.5 per cent), and a steep fall compared to the previous month's result (+0.4 per cent).

 

However, the third-quarter result was even worse. Sales fell by 0.1 per cent to $79.8 billion — against expectations of a 0.2 per cent increase.

 

"There was a mix of results at the industry level this month," Ben James, ABS director of quarterly economy-wide surveys, said.

 

He said that the biggest gains were seen in the categories of "other retailing" (+0.8 per cent), cafes, restaurants and takeaway services (+0.6 per cent), and food retailing (+0.1 per cent).

 

The worst performing categories were clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailing (-0.5 per cent) and department stores (-0.2 per cent).

 

On a state level, the biggest lift in retail turnover was seen in Tasmania (+1 per cent) and Western Australia (+0.7 per cent).

 

The result, however, was largely unchanged in New South Wales (+0.3 per cent), South Australia (+0.2 per cent) and the Australian Capital Territory (+0.1 per cent) and the Northern Territory (+0.1 per cent).

 

The worst performing states were Victoria (flat) and Queensland (-0.1 per cent).

 

Meantime, online sales continue to grow, making up 6.3 per cent of all retail turnover in September — up from 5.6 per cent during the same period last year.