And yes, sales growth came in lower than the analysts had anticipated – at 3.7 per cent for the last quarter compared with 5.5 per cent market forecasts. All Wesfarmers' retail sales results disappointed, including Bunnings. Still, Coles has now whipped Woolies for 10 quarters on the trot. Woolies' food and liquor sales had slowed from 2.5 per cent to 1.1 per cent in the December period. As both supermarket giants reported total sales a tad below the level of growth experienced by the broader market in October and November (December data was unavailable) the growth of the entire market likely moderated in December, says Goldman Sachs research. But because the duopoly so dominates the Australian market, it is unlikely they both lost market share. And it is this market dominance which should slug consumers in the future. As anybody who has travelled recently will tell you, prices for most things in Australia are much higher than in the rest of the world – even after accounting for the rising $A.