00:00It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas, but while there are still toys in every store,
00:09how many are being walked out the door?
00:12With more money going on the essentials, like the groceries and where we live, Canberra's
00:17shoppers are doing their best to make it work.
00:20I've been working a bit recently just to save up some money so I can spend some on family
00:26and stuff.
00:27They're still quite small, so they enjoy a little crochet set or some of those small
00:34craft items that you can buy for five or six dollars.
00:37Retailers themselves have noticed wallets seem thinner than normal.
00:42Consumers are just not outspending in the way that we might have expected them to, and
00:46we think the cost of living pressures and the interest rate situation is really at the
00:50heart of that.
00:52With some shoppers still doing a mad dash in the week before the 25th, it seems others
00:57were strategic, getting in earlier and saving money in the process.
01:02Tried to grab the bargains and all the Black Fridays and the cyber things and all that,
01:06we jumped on board.
01:07Originally an American phenomenon, it seems Black Friday has well and truly arrived on
01:13Aussie shores.
01:14That's good for retail in that it's encouraging customers to get out and shop, but it does
01:19mean that margins are down.
01:21But those who missed out don't have long to wait before prices are slashed again.
01:26Boxing day is coming up, that's obviously a big part of the shopping calendar as well,
01:30but my expectation is you'll probably see quite a few sales rolling on into the new
01:35year.
01:36While consumers hoping for a special something from the Reserve Bank may be waiting a little
01:40while yet.
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