But if you run a gift shop on High Street or down near the Port, you'll know the picture's a bit more complicated than that. More visitors don't automatically mean more sales when everyone's watching their wallet.
Tighter than this time last year, if the forecasters are right. When Deloitte Access Economics put out its retail forecasts on 1 September, it had real retail turnover growth easing from 2.8 per cent in 2025-26 down to 1.5 per cent in 2026-27, and the discretionary side (which is pretty much where giftware lives) dropping from 1.9 per cent growth to a measly 0.7 per cent.
None of that's a shock if you've done a big shop lately. We've had three rate rises in the first half of the year, according to Deloitte, unemployment crept up to 4.5 per cent in July and real wages actually went backwards, down 0.7 per cent over the year to June. So people still want to put something nice under the tree. They've just got less to play with.
Why does Christmas matter so much for small retailers?
For plenty of shops, it pretty much is the year. Back in 2024 the Australian Retailers Association pointed out discretionary retailers can make up to two-thirds of their annual profits over the peak season, so if you misjudge it, you're either staring at boxes of leftover stock in January or watching someone leave with nothing because the shelf they wanted was empty.
That same release found more than half of shoppers had already bought some of their gifts by mid-October, mostly because they were hunting for value. I'd bet that habit hasn't gone anywhere with budgets this tight, which means a lot of the Christmas trade is happening right now, not in the last fortnight of December.
So what does smart stocking look like this year?
Honestly, I'd start with price. When people are being careful, they still like a gift that looks like some thought went into it, as long as it doesn't hurt, so I'd load up on choices under $30 and under $50. Think Kris Kringle, something for the kids' teacher, a thank you for the neighbour who fed the cat, the sort of thing nobody winces at when they tap their card.
Visitors are where Echuca-Moama gets a bit of a leg up. Somebody who's just spent the afternoon on a paddlesteamer wants a little something to remember it by, and the day-trippers up from Bendigo or Melbourne are often after a present to take home anyway. Candles, homewares, socks with a bit of character, small wellbeing bits and stocking fillers all work for that crowd, partly because they fit in a handbag, and they're just as handy for locals buying for family.
Then there's timing, which I'd argue matters as much as what's on the shelf. With shoppers getting in early, your Christmas range wants to be out early as well, because chasing a reorder in mid-December when a good line's sold out can go either way. I'd be ringing suppliers now to ask what they're holding back and how fast a top-up could actually land.
Where do independent shops find good stock?
Most small gift shops don't have the volume to import directly, so they lean on wholesalers who've done the sourcing already. There are a fair few wholesale giftware suppliers in Australia to choose from, and the things worth checking are pretty practical. How big is the range? Can you order in sensible quantities? Is there a rep you can actually talk to, and how fast does stock arrive?
Gibson Gifts is one long-running example. It's been selling exclusively to retailers since 1960, carries more than 4,000 products across categories like Christmas, home decor, wellbeing, socks and stationery, and has sales reps in every state, which can make a difference when you're a regional shop that can't easily get to a trade show.
Is shopping local still a thing people care about?
I think it is, maybe more so when money's tight and people want their spending to count for something. Local events help too. The Rotary Club's Shop Local Night has become a regular fixture on the Echuca calendar in the lead-up to Christmas, and it's a good excuse to get the window looking its best and the counter stocked with easy gift ideas.
The shops that do well this season probably won't be the ones with the most stuff. They'll be the ones that worked out early what their customers (local or visiting) actually want to spend, and made sure it was sitting there when they walked in. With a tourism year like this one, it'd be a shame to miss the chance.
