Is there anything Taylor Swift can’t do? Not as far as retailers, hotels and F&B outlets are concerned, it would appear.
Australian fans of The Eras Tour concert helped domestic retail sales to a modest uptick in February, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (ABS), in the latest example of Swiftonomics.
It was a welcome, one-off boost as February retail spend totalled AUD$35.8 billion, up 1.6% on the same month the year prior as Swifties poured into the country’s two biggest cities.
It’s a phenomenon that has become recognized worldwide, with U.S. cities from coast to coast seeing a huge rise in retail, lodging and food and beverage spend wherever the megastar appears.
In 2023, Swift embarked on global series of showson that has already become the highest-grossing tour on record, with revenues of more than $1 billion to date and the tour not due to conclude until the end of this year.
“Seven sold-out Taylor Swift concerts in Sydney and Melbourne boosted retail spending this month, with more than 600,000 Swifties flocking to these events. This led to increased spending on clothing, merchandise, accessories and dining out,” ABS head of retail statistics Ben Dorber said of the Taylor effect.
“Looking past the temporary and one-off impact of the Taylor Swift concerts, underlying growth in retail turnover was up only 0.1% in trend terms. After a period of higher volatility from November through to January, underlying spending has stagnated,” he added.
Australian Retail Sales
ABS data for February showed that apparel, footwear and accessories sales rose 4%, the strongest growth across all categories. Department store sales were up 3.7%, followed by cafes, restaurants and takeout which increased 2.9% and other retailing, up 2.7%. Food sales climbed 1.6%, but household goods sales declined 2.2%.
However, National Retail Association Director Rob Godwin warned that the economy cannot rely on a U.S. pop star – even one as famous as Taylor Swift – to improve.
He said it would be a mistake for the Government to interpret the February seasonally adjusted sales increase of 0.3% as anything other than a dire number for Australian business owners.
“These figures show that the retail sector is struggling, and can’t simply ‘shake it off’ no matter what kind of spin the ABS puts on the numbers,”Godwin said.
While now on its international legs, the Eras Tour has previously been credited with boosting local economies across the U.S. as Swift fans have poured into cities across North America as they hosted her concerts to spend money on lodging, food, transportation, and merchandise.
Eras Tour attendees — on average around 54,000 fans attended each concert during the U.S. section of the tour — had an average spend of over $1,300 according to analysis by Pollstar.
And after Swift held a trio of concerts in Chicago in June 2023, Illinois Governor J.B. Pritzker and local tourism leaders declared that Illinois had broken hotel revenue records thanks in part to her visit, with Chicago hotel occupancy reaching 97%.
Eras Tour Boost Retail
Overall, one analysis by QuestionPro estimated that the Eras Tour could ultimately generate a starggering $5 billion for the U.S. economy. The U.S. Travel Association went one further and said that the actual figure may be closer to $10 billion when factoring indirect spending byconsumers who may not have attended the concerts themselves but joined in on spending around the events.
“These numbers are pretty incredible,” said Dan Fleetwood, President of QuestionPro Research and Insights, at the time of the report. “If Taylor Swift were an economy, she’d be bigger than 50 countries; if she was a corporation, her net promoter score would make her the fourth most admired brand, and her loyalty numbers mimic those of subjects to a royal crown. It’s all a testament to her focus on the fan experience.”
Swift’s tour is set to hit Europe in May through the summer, before traveling to Canada after a break during the Fall, with dates in November and December.
Read the full article here