Retail sales miss expectations Retail turnover for April 2013. Retail sales have risen slightly in April, partly reversing a fall in March, following an increase in sale of food, clothing and at restaurants. Retail sales rose a seasonally adjusted 0.2 per cent according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, below economists" expectations of a 0.3 per cent rise. The ABS said the biggest contributor to the recent growth in sales was food retailing, which had expanded 0.6 per cent in trend terms. Retail sales had fallen 0.4 per cent in March seasonally adjusted, below economists expectations of a 0.1 per cent rise. Last week, NAB's online sales index found that sales on the internet had risen to 6 per cent of traditional retail spending in the year to April, up from 5.2 per cent in the same period last year. Australians spent $13.5 billion in the first quarter of this year, a rise from $11.2 billion in the previous corresponding period. More to come...