The ongoing effect of price competition from overseas retailers such as Zara and Aldi has become a key issue for the Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA), influencing its inflation forecasts which help it determine interest rate moves.

"It wasn't so long ago that Australia's retail landscape looked very different, with few of the global retailers that populated the shopping centres of large cities overseas," RBA assistant governor Luci Ellis said in a speech on Friday.

Macquarie expects Zara's store numbers to rise from 15 to 20 over the next few years. Credit:Dominic Lorrimer

"That has changed over the past decade, especially in groceries and clothing retail."

Since the early 2000s, numerous overseas retail giants have established stores in Australia, often with plans to gain market share through fierce price competition and rapid expansion. Examples include Aldi, Kaufland, Amazon, H&M, JD Sports, Costco, Zara and Uniqlo.