Food tops Canberra's Christmas spending lists - The Canberra Times

Eidelweiss deli owner, Dusanka Simic at the deli in Woden. Photo: Rohan Thomson

Dusanka Simic's French cheese, rare beef and roast turkey will account for some of the extra Christmas spending in Canberra, which will average $1437 per person this year.

The biggest item on people's shopping list will be food for dinners and barbecues, which will keep the Serbian gourmet deli owner at Woden, who cooks turkeys on the premises, busy.

''We have about 110 different varieties of cheeses; the majority are imported. We have a lot of French cheeses,'' Mrs Simic said. ''Then we have our German-style hams, which we only do for Christmas. We start taking orders in October for our regular clientele.''

Australian shoppers are expected to spend $30 billion this Christmas, and the ACT Chamber of Commerce says the ACT's spending bill will be $530 million.

Chamber chief executive Andrew Blyth says the average Canberran's spend is higher than the national average of $1280, because of the territory's higher incomes, and online shopping would rise by the national average of 18 per cent.

''It is a challenge for local retailers to compete against that. Bricks-and-mortar traders are getting an online presence,'' Mr Blyth said. ''People have choice, convenience, they don't want to have to find a car park, pay for parking, the hustle and bustle.

''But there is still that genuine feel of Christmas shopping experience that people don't have a problem with, getting out and about and finding those bargains in those last few days.''

At Edelweiss Deli, Mrs Simic's husband Zivota's summer dips are a big drawcard for foot traffic to the shop. Staff are getting busier and working longer hours as Christmas trade picks up. ''We have been advertising for two years for someone who knows how to do coffee,'' Mrs Simic said. ''We have four businesses in one: a big cheese bar, sandwich bar and coffee, and the deli section, plus a little shop on the side.''

Mr Blyth said research showed women would complete most of their shopping between November 13 and December 11, while men left it until mid-December to Christmas Eve.

Canberra Centre senior centre manager Karen Noad said extended hours would begin from December 14. Customer numbers were expected to rise by 50 per cent in the week before Christmas.

Westfield's Belconnen and Woden malls will stage ''super Saturday'' on December 7, with retailers offering discounts, gifts with purchase and Brumbies players gift-wrapping shoppers' presents.

Tuggeranong Hyperdome will begin extended trading until 7pm from December 16.

Financial comparison website RateCity estimates Australians will ''gift'' an estimated $10.7 million to their credit card providers in extra interest revenue in January. RateCity estimates that the ACT's share of this additional interest will be $177,321.

Meanwhile, the latest Commonwealth Bank business sales indicator, which tracks the value of credit and debit card transactions processed through its bank point-of-sale terminals, shows spending in the ACT continued to make modest gains, increasing 0.2 per cent in October.