onestepright™
Menu

Retail trade: how the industry looks

This page gathers the figures we hold on retail trade. Each section names its own source.

Each source groups industries its own way, so the edges of retail trade differ a little from section to section.

What stands out

  • In 2024-25, EBITDA was 8.0% of sales across the industry and 14.7% across all industries the ABS covers.
  • In 2025-26, 15.7% of the industry's businesses stopped trading, and 13.8% across all industries.

Where a line gives a figure across all industries, it comes from the same source and period as the industry's. The sections below name each source.

Use these figures

  • Set your own EBITDA margin beside the industry's on industry margins.

  • Get your own earnings on the same basis as the deals, and set them against the sector's multiples, in the earnings calculator.

  • Set the days your own invoices take beside the industry's on payment times.

What businesses sold for

The median and the middle half, in times EBITDA. The figure is the median. Under it are the middle half and the number of deals.
  1. Retail trade7.0 times EBITDA, middle half 5.0 to 9.0, 30+ deals
  2. Apparel and footwear retail7.0 times EBITDA, 5+ deals
Deal details

Retail trade: median 7.0 times EBITDA. The middle half of deals ran from 5.0 to 9.0 times (30+ deals of A$10 million to A$500 million, announced 2001 to 2025).

Apparel and footwear retail: median 7.0 times EBITDA (5+ deals of A$10 million to A$500 million, announced 2010 to 2018).

What multiple will my business sell for?

In Australia, retail trade businesses bought between 2001 and 2025 sold for a median of 7.0 times EBITDA, across 30+ deals.

Source: deals in our database with a published value. Counts by onestepright.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-multiples. Source: deals in our database with a published value. Counts by onestepright.

See every retail trade figure on its sale multiples page.

How deal activity has moved

Share of deals in our database
  1. 2015-194.2%
  2. 2020-265.0% · Little change

2015-19 against 2020-26, among the deals in our database.

These count deals in our database, not every deal in the market.

Source: deals in our database. Counts by onestepright.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-deal_activity. Source: deals in our database. Counts by onestepright.

See deal trends across sectors.

Margins

In 2024-25, EBITDA was 8.0% of sales across the industry, and operating profit 5.9%.

Where each dollar of sales goes
  • Purchases69.6%
  • Labour12.1%
  • Other costs
  • EBITDA8.0%

Every business in the industry together, 2024-25.

What is the average profit margin in retail trade?

Across every retail trade business added together, EBITDA was 8.0% of sales in 2024-25, and operating profit 5.9%.

Every business in the industry is added together, so the figures are not a typical business.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Industry (8155.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-margins. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Australian Industry (8155.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Compare margins across industries.

How many businesses are still trading

Out of 100 businesses trading in June 2022

About 57 in every 100 were still trading four years later.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-survival. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Compare survival across industries.

Businesses that started and stopped

Started and stopped, 2025-26
  1. Started trading15.7%All industries16.9%
  2. Stopped trading15.7%All industries13.8%

Each is a share of the businesses trading at the start of the year.

Few exits are insolvencies.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-entries_and_exits. Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Counts of Australian Businesses, including Entries and Exits (8165.0). Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Compare exits across industries.

How fast large businesses pay small suppliers

Days to pay small suppliers
  • This industry25
  • All industries23

The typical large business in this industry, against all industries.

In July to December 2025, the typical large business in the industry paid small suppliers in 25 days, and paid 70% of its invoices within 30 days.

Source: Payment Times Reporting Register. © Commonwealth of Australia. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-payment_times. Source: Payment Times Reporting Register. © Commonwealth of Australia. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

Compare payment times across industries.

What costs did

What wages and input prices did in this industry, and what businesses in it announced. Each comes from its own source and grouping of industries.

What costs did, the year to June 2026
  1. Wages+2.9%

Each bar comes from its own source, named below.

Source: Australian Bureau of Statistics, Wage Price Index, Australia (6345.0), private sector, total hourly rates excluding bonuses. Licensed under CC BY 4.0.

No input price series or announced rises fit this industry yet.

What listed chief executives' bonuses pay for

The share of the sector's ASX 200 companies using each measure in their chief executive's bonus plans, FY2025.

Short-term plan

  1. Profit or earnings90%
  2. Safety90%
  3. Strategic or project goals80%
  4. Environment or climate60%
  5. Customer60%
  6. Revenue or growth50%
  7. Cash flow or return on capital40%
  8. People and culture30%
  9. Individual goals20%
  10. Risk and conduct20%
  11. Earnings per share10%

Share of the sector's ASX 200 companies using each measure, FY2025.

Based on 10+ companies.

Long-term plan

  1. Total shareholder return70%
  2. Cash flow or return on capital40%
  3. Earnings per share30%
  4. Profit or earnings20%
  5. Strategic or project goals10%

Share of the sector's ASX 200 companies using each measure, FY2025.

Based on 10+ companies.

Source: ASX 200 companies' remuneration reports, FY2025. Shares of companies, not weights.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-bonus_measures. Source: ASX 200 companies' remuneration reports, FY2025. Shares of companies, not weights.

See bonus measures across sectors.

Small business cost ratios

The ATO publishes cost ranges for these small business industries in the sector.

Show the 40 industries

Source: Australian Taxation Office, Small business benchmarks 2023-24. © Australian Taxation Office for the Commonwealth of Australia. Not endorsed by the ATO.

Embed or cite this chart

Use the chart or its figures with the sources named and a link back to this page.

Cite

onestepright, "Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival", updated October 2026, https://onestepright.com/industries/retail-trade#h-cost_ratios. Source: Australian Taxation Office, Small business benchmarks 2023-24. © Australian Taxation Office for the Commonwealth of Australia. Not endorsed by the ATO.

See small business cost ratios.

See retail trade in New Zealand.

See retail trade in the United Kingdom.

See retail trade in Canada.

See retail trade in the United States.

Who in your business can move a price, and by how much? The pricing check takes about ten minutes.

Retail trade in Australia: deals, margins and survival · onestepright