Australian residents are increasingly forgoing international vacations and opting for domestic hotspots, which has given the retail sector a much-needed boost, Smart Company reports.

New data from the Australian government suggests more than 73 million overnight trips were taken through March, which marks a 5 percent growth compared with the previous year. Vacationing tourists are more likely to spend money at retail, with a separate report from Deloitte noting the sector is on pace to record 2 percent growth through the end of 2012.

The growth projected by Deloitte may not be as significant as many retailers had hoped for, but it's a large step up from the 0.7 percent growth of 2011. Deloitte predicts growth will further accelerate in 2013 to 3 percent.

"Overall, we expect that interest rate cuts and budget handouts will help the retail sector continue some upward momentum in the coming months," Deloitte Access Economics director David Rumbens told the news source.

Australian retail has been hindered the past few years because of the growing prevalence of ecommerce, which enables consumers to import less expensive retail goods from foreign countries.

Americans continue to rely on credit and debit cards as primary means of paying for goods at point-of-sale (POS) terminals, according to a new report from First Data Corporation.

In May, overall card spending at retail locations was up 7 percent year-over-year, which is a higher growth rate than the previous month (5.7 percent). Consumers spent at healthy rates during the beginning of the month (which is when Mother's Day occurred), but spending continued to be strong throughout the course of the month. The number of overall transactions held steady at 5.9 percent.

"Overall May card spending growth was healthy, but there is reason for caution. During the month we saw consumers reducing the growth of their discretionary spending at retail merchants and increasingly resorting to credit for necessities," said Silvio Tavares, senior vice president and division manager of First Data Global Information and Analytics Solutions.

Father's Day falls on June 17 this year, and early reports from the National Retail Federation expect the holiday to cause another boost in spending. Although Americans don't typically spend as much on dad as they do on mom, the NRF study suggests the gap is slowly closing – good news for retailers.

An increasing number of companies are globalizing their retail operations, making their first stop the European Union.

A recent ecommerce summit held in Barcelona, Spain, offered retailers a number of tips to take into consideration before entering the EU marketplace, especially in light of recent economic troubles in the region, Fibre2Fashion reports.

Regardless, retailers will want to get familiar with country-specific consumer laws, understand how their point-of-sale systems may need to be tailored and learn what the specific customs-related rules are, the source notes.

Each nation also has specific preferences and points of value when it comes to shopping as well. For example, French Ecommerce Association director Marc Lolivier explained that for his nation, language is key. The French, he explained, are unlikely to struggle with a website in another language or poorly translated French.

While U.S. retailers will need to get familiar with their target nation's laws, they may also want to seek expert advice for handling U.S. taxes and regulations.

Social media is still a relatively young acquisition channel – some merchants swear by it, while others prefer more traditional means such as circulars or television ads. Yet a new report published by RJMetrics suggests there may at least some merit to using sites such as Facebook to win over new customers.

According to the data, a consumer acquired through Facebook advertising spends 30 percent more at that merchant over his or her lifetime than one gained through Groupon. They also spend 8 percent more than a consumer acquired via an advertisement placed on search engines such as Google.

The report, however, did not note conversion metrics, so while a customer acquired through Facebook may spend more than one referred by Groupon or Google, the boost in ROI may not cover the difference in conversion rates. When merchants are planning their marketing initiatives, they need to take that into account to avoid budgeting issues.

Facebook frequently unrolls new ways for brands to engage consumers, which may further improve conversion rates for merchants in the future. Most recently, the social site announced Promoted Posts.

Many retail merchants carefully think through the entire purchasing experience, from shopping to checkout, but few pay as much attention to return policies. That could be detrimental, particularly to online shoppers, who value simple return processes.

According to a new report by comScore and UPS, 63 percent of online shoppers consult a retailer's return policy before even considering a purchase. A poorly detailed policy could hinder sales, with approximately half saying they would shop more at a merchant with a forgiving return policy and many would also recommend that outlet to others.

"While free shipping has tended to dominate the discussion regarding what provides satisfaction to online shoppers, the study shows there are several other factors critical to a positive online shopping experience," notes Susan Kleinman, comScore director. "Retailers need a holistic understanding of these drivers if they hope to stimulate sales while maintaining healthy margins in this competitive retail environment."

One strategy big-box retailers have turned to is enabling shoppers to return goods in-store, thereby reducing the time between when refunds are issued.

When consumers have to spend their money on other necessary commodities, such as food and gas, retailers tend to suffer as a result. For the past few years, shoppers worldwide have been cost-conscious and as a result, merchants have had difficulties growing their businesses.

However, things are beginning to look up in the United Kingdom. According to a new report from the Confederation of British Industry (CBI), a large number of domestic retailers are showing renewed confidence as Britons begin spending more money at retail locations. However, the organization was quick to note that it isn't all clear sailing from here – some challenges do exist.

"It's encouraging to see high street sales up compared to a year ago, and that business sentiment about the next three months has improved," Judith McKenna, chair of the CBI distributive trades panel and chief operating officer of ASDA, told Brookson. "However, sales are still below the average for the time of year."

While consumers are always looking for a good deal, it's crucial that retailers don't offer too many promotions. This will train shoppers to only buy when there is a deal, rather than becoming regular customers.

Mother's Day was widely heralded as being one of the reasons retail sales grew in May, with Americans going out in droves to purchase gifts for their moms. Now, Father's Day is expected to create a similar bump in sales for retailers in June, according to a new report from the National Retail Federation and BIGinsight.

While Americans don't spend quite as much on dad as they do mom, Father's Day expenditures are expected to be up nonetheless. The average consumer anticipates spending $117.14 on gifts for their fathers this year, which is up 10 percent from the average of $106.49 last year. Father's Day budgets are slowly closing the gap compared to Mother's Day, with the difference shrinking to approximately $30.

Overall, the National Retail Federation and BIGinsight expect Americans to spend $12.7 billion on gifts, ranging from golf equipment to restaurant gift certificates.

"He may not ever expect the 'royal treatment' on Father's Day, but this year dad doesn't have much of a say as it's evident his loved ones want to make sure he has a great day," said NRF president and CEO Matthew Shay. "For those looking for the perfect gift idea, retailers will have specials on everything from patio sets and grills to ties and gardening tools in the weeks leading up to the holiday."

Popular gifts among shoppers are just what you would expect, including consumer electronics (expected to account for $1.7 billion in expenditures), apparel ($1.7 billion), gift cards ($1.7 billion), sporting goods ($641 million) and books or music ($645 million).

The audience for Father's Day is also broadening, which may be why expenditures are growing. For example, while 53.9 percent of respondents said they are buying primarily for their dads, 29 percent are celebrating their husbands, sons (9.7 percent), grandfathers (5.3 percent) and brothers (6.8 percent and friends (5.7 percent) as well.

Overall retail sales grew 3.9 percent in May, according to a Commerce Department report, with many retailers crediting Mother's Day and Memorial Day weekend for the small bump.

Consumers are casting their recessionary spending habits aside as the economy continues to recover, with many opening their wallets and spending more money. In response, clothing retailers are similarly investing more into operations to capture consumer spending, Bloomberg Businessweek reports.

According to a new report from Fitch Ratings, the retail industry is expected to boost capital spending to $35 billion this year – a 20 percent increase compared with $29 billion in 2009. However, that doesn't necessarily mean opening new brick-and-mortar locations. Instead, many are focusing on raising same-store sales and investing in other ways to make store operations better, such as mobile point-of-sale (POS) terminals.

By implementing new technologies and other innovations, merchants are hoping to improve the in-store experience. In the eyes of many major retail brands, brick-and-mortar is no longer competing with ecommerce – it's growing increasingly difficult to provide the same prices in-store that consumers can get wherever they shop online.

Instead, retailers are trying to make shopping at physical locations a unique experience. Many are taking inspiration from Apple in that regard and focusing on personalized service made specific to the shopper. Merchants want to make shopping at brick-and-mortar stores a truly engaging experience compared with ecommerce.

"What really good retailers around the world are now looking at is how do they create a unique experience in the physical store that gets people [to] come in and want to participate in that," Wendy Liebmann, chief executive officer of WSL Strategic Retail, told the news source.

"There are so many reasons for people not to come or not to come as often. It becomes really important to create more compelling and easier to shop environments that people feel is theirs, their store," she added.

As consumers becomes more optimistic in their financial standing, they are growing increasingly willing to spend more money. This means higher costs in-store may not be as much of an issue, provided they feel like they are getting a better value from the shopping experience.

"We think the consumer is getting more confidence, and with that, the stores are getting more confident to expand," said Laura Pomerantz, founder of commercial real estate advisory firm PBS Real Estate. "Stores have to be entertainment, they have to be service-oriented, which has clearly become very, very important to the consumer."

One way many retailers are boosting sales is through ShopKick initiatives, which encourage customers to come in and spend points earned through loyalty programs.

A number of retail merchants have noted the increased popularity of online shopping. Data from comScore suggests consumer ecommerce spending grew by double digits during the first quarter of 2013. This has lead many merchants to scale back on brick-and-mortar expansions while investing more into online shopping platforms.

According to Forbes, many retail landlords have fought back by offering new leasing and promotional products designed to complement the industry. For example, Kimco launched the KEYS program to assist startup retailers with operations through the first few years of business.

"Weingarten has also developed a proprietary communication platform where the company provides innovative leasing, consulting and operational support for existing and proposed tenants," the news source explains. "This SHOPCENTRIC platform is designed to assist customers with simplifying certain business-related procedures and enabling Weingarten’s tenants to remain competitive."

Best Buy is one of the many retailers looking to become more involved with online sales. The company's new management team recently announced plans to scale back on its brick-and-mortar presence while continuing to improve its online shopping platforms.

A recent report suggests retailers performed better than anticipated in May, with many Americans taking advantage of heavy Mother's Day promotions.

Major retailers such as Macy's and Target all noted stronger gains than many analysts had projected. This followed a dismal April, during which retailers posted some of the worst results in nearly three years. The influx of sales was credited to Mother's Day and the launch of new summer styles.

"The pent-up demand is continuing to pour out a little," Ken Perkins, president of research firm Retail Metrics, told USA Today. "I wouldn't say it's happening in droves. But consumers are updating their wardrobes."

As the economy continues to improve, retailers expect this trend to continue. According to a report from the Commerce Department, the economy grew at an annual rate of 1.9 percent in the first three months of the year, which means consumers' financial positions are slowly improving.

Still, many merchants fear that higher commodity prices – namely, gas and food – will discourage consumers from spending more at retail.