Calendar for Public Holidays and key shopping events in Australia and New Zealand

The average publisher on Skimlinks doubles their commerce content revenue in the holiday season. Commerce content goes beyond these festive celebrations, as shopping events happen all year long. With a 108.9% increase in publisher commissions in 2022, commerce content is thriving in the region.

Here is a selection of public holidays and events that can inspire publishers to write for their audience in Australia and New Zealand. Publishers may decide to write their articles several months in advance to get better SEO traction or simply because consumers are shopping early.

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Q1 2023

Think the New Year is a slow down in pace? Think again!

A New Year means new resolutions. Health and fitness products are among the key categories that perform well in the New Year, along with productivity and personal development products.

This quarter brings opportunities for commerce content with events such as Valentine’s Day and Melbourne Fashion week. Dates to bookmark in Q1 include:

• Jan 1 – New Year’s Day
• Jan 1-31 – Back-To-School Sales
• Jan 26 – Australia Day
• Feb 1-7 – Click Frenzy Valentine’s Day Showcase
• Feb 14 – Valentine’s Day
• Feb 17 – Sydney Mardi Gras
• Feb 21 – Shrove Tuesday / Pancake Day
• Mar 8 – International Women’s Day
• Mar 3-11 – Melbourne Fashion Week
• Mar 17 – St. Patrick’s Day
• Mar 21 – Australian F1 Grand Prix
• Mar – Afterpay Day
• Mar – March Madness Sales

Q2 2023

From Easter to Pride Month, this festival-filled quarter provides more content topics to inspire. Mark these key retail dates on your calendar: 

• Apr 1 – April Fools Day
• Apr 9 – Easter Sunday
• Apr 22 – Earth Day
• May 14 – Mother’s Day
• May 24-26 – Click Frenzy Mayhem
• June 1 – Ski Season begins
• June 1 – 30 – Pride Month
• June 15 – 19 – Click Frenzy Travel
• June 21 – International Yoga Day
• June 29 – 30 – Click Frenzy End of Financial Year Showcase
• June 30 – End of Financial Year Sales
• April – Sephora Beauty Insider Sale
• April – Vogue Online Shopping Night

Q3 2023

Mid-year and spring sales are the highlights of this quarter. In Q3 in Australia and New Zealand, major retailers like Microsoft, Samsung, Lenovo, eBay, and Catch hold winter sales and “Christmas in July” sales across apparel, homeware, and electronic categories before product refreshes in Spring. 

In early September, Apple normally releases new products, and towards the end of the month, retailers release advent calendars which sell out quickly. Key dates to bookmark in Q3 are:

• July 7 – World Chocolate Day
• July 26 – 28 – Click Frenzy Julove 
• Aug 2 – Picnic Day (Northern Territory, Australia)
• Aug 4 – International Beer Day
• Aug 12 – International Youth Day
• Sep 1 – First Day of Spring/ Spring Sales
• Sep 3 – Father’s Day
• July – Amazon Prime Day
• August – After Pay Day

Q4 2023

This quarter’s holiday events, like Christmas and Boxing day, are strong opportunities for publishers to produce commerce content. Key dates to bookmark include:

• Oct 1 – 31 – Breast Cancer Awareness Month
• Oct 24 – 26 – Click Frenzy Main Event 
• Oct 29 – Grandparents Day
• Oct 31 – Halloween
• Nov 7 – Melbourne Cup
• Nov 11 – Singles Day
• Nov 12 – Diwali
• Nov 24 – Black Friday
• Nov 23 – 27 – Black Friday Showcase 
• Nov 27 – Cyber Monday
• Dec 1 – Holiday Gift Guides released
• Dec 13 – Green Monday
• Dec 15 – Free Shipping Day
• Dec 24 – Christmas Eve
• Dec 25 – Christmas Day
• Dec 26 – Boxing Day
• Dec 22 – 29 – Click Frenzy Boxing Day 
• Dec 31 – New Year’s Eve