November 27, 2018 WA businesses suffering a crisis of confidence Figures in the September Quarter 2018 Sensis Business Index, released today, reveal Western Australian small and medium businesses (SMBs) are the second least confident of all states and territories. Shadow Minister for Small Business Libby Mettam said small and medium businesses in WA were feeling the impact of tough trading conditions and the reduced discretionary spend of families whose budgets have been hit by massive increases in Government fees and charges. “The report, which measures the SMB activity, expectations and confidence over a three-month period, found that confidence levels among WA SMBs fell seven points to +22, a massive 20 points below the national average,” Ms Mettam said. “This means businesses in WA are the least confident of any State in Australia and second only behind the Northern Territory. “The McGowan Government’s decision to reduce Christmas shopping hours will only serve to intensify this result, encouraging people to shop online.” Ms Mettam said the WA Chamber of Commerce revealed in September that online sales had increased from four to five per cent of total retail sales in the past 12 months, while total retail sales in WA had remained flat for the past three years. “We should be doing everything possible to improve these figures for our SMBs, including to increasing rather than decreasing trading hours to take full advantage of Christmas and post-Christmas shopping,” Ms Mettam said. “Reducing trading hours is restricting choice to businesses and consumers and also depriving thousands of workers of the opportunity to work extra hours and earn more money to this traditionally expensive time of the year.” Media Contact |
