Business are finding it hard to make a buck on Melbourne Cup day as Australians increasingly spend all afternoon enjoying the festivities.
Less than a third of small businesses earn more money on race day than they spend on staff and overheads, according to accounting data from 500,000 companies.
This was far below last year’s 53.7 per cent average for a normal day, and down seven per cent from 39 per cent from Cup day 2014 just two years earlier.
Business are finding it hard to make a buck on Melbourne Cup day as Australians increasingly spend all afternoon enjoying the festivities
Less than a third of small businesses earn more money on race day than they spend on staff and overheads as customers flocked to the pub or track instead
Businesses also made 45 per cent less revenue last year than a standard weekday, blowing out from 34 per cent in 2014.
Trent Innes, managing director of accounting software provider Xero, said Australians were getting more engaged with the Cup every year.
‘The Melbourne Cup has always been the race that stops the nation but it’s now the day that stops the nation,’ he said.
‘It’s becoming more national than it’s ever been so you’ve got more people taking time out to celebrate it even if they don’t have a public holiday.’
Hospitality and food unsurprisingly fared better at 37 per cent with pubs and restaurants packed with racing fans, but was still much lower than normal
Melbourne Cup day was approaching the popularity of holidays like Easter and Christmas and businesses should prepare accordingly
Mr Innes said it was both because customers were too preoccupied with race day and that more business were opting to shut down for the afternoon.
He said though some of the trend could be explained by the public holiday in Victoria, NSW was data was almost the same as the national average.
The construction industry was most likely to take the day off with just 17 per cent making enough money to cover expenses, followed by agriculture, forestry and fishing.
‘Don’t expect builders to get much done on your house on Cup day,’ Mr Innes said.
The construction industry was most likely to take the day off with just 17 per cent making enough money to cover expenses
Hospitality and food unsurprisingly fared better at 37 per cent with pubs and restaurants packed with racing fans, but was still much lower than normal.
Healthcare and social services performed best at 41 per cent because most would stay open regardless, but patients would often opt to come in another day.
‘Celebrations across the country are getting larger each year, impacting small business profits as people spend more time celebrating at race events and less time spending money in small businesses,’ Mr Innes said.
He suggested Melbourne Cup day was approaching the popularity of holidays like Easter and Christmas and businesses should prepare accordingly.