Australia's retail sector remains under pressure as reflected by the third quarter results of Wesfarmers' Coles supermarket chains, which slightly moved up but exceeded the general growth forecasts earlier set by the market.

According to Wesfarmers, Coles' revenues inched up by 2.7 percent in the first three months of 2012 as compared to the numbers posted by the giant retailer in the same period last year.

The latest figures surpassed that of the 2.5 percent to 3.0 percent revenue growth seen by economists to attend Wesfarmers on its penultimate quarter in the current financial year 2011-2012.

"We wouldn't necessarily extrapolate the same kind of weakness for Coles but it's pretty clear that the deflationary process is pretty crook at the moment," Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) analyst told the Australian Associated Press (AAP) in reading the latest Coles result.

Wesfarmers managing director Richard Goyder said in a statement that he was pleased with Coles' latest figures, which he noted also represented the chains growing customer base while the company's closest rival, Woolworths, appears to be losing some steam.

The numbers, Goyder admitted, pointed to a definite slow down from the second quarter results, which posted 3.7 percent growth by the end of December.

He attributed the decline to the plunging prices of fresh produces, which were considerably adjusted downwards after the holiday season, and the ongoing price war that Coles is waging against Woolworths.

But Wesfarmers, in a report by Reuters, stressed that "underlying volume growth remained strong, consistent with prior periods, demonstrating the continued strength of the turnaround," despite the estimated 25 percent price cuts on fruits and vegetables that were introduced since January.

"Growth in Coles continues to reflect a positive response by customers to the progress being made in improving product quality, service and value," Goyder added in his statement.

Coles banner offerings, specifically its food and liquor products, surged by 4.1 percent in the period to $6.1 billion, leading to a 4.6 percent rise in the same department for the current financial year, or $19.7 billion of total sales so far for the division alone, according to Goyder.

Yet the best news to date, Goyder stressed, is the fact that Coles is consistently growing while Woolworths seemed gradually losing many customers, thanks much to Wesfarmers' earlier decision to overhaul its supermarket network, Reuters said.

Since then, Coles has experienced considerable recovery while Woolworths had to contend with falling revenues over the past four years, which Reuters said shrunk from the double-digit previous postings to almost flat movements.

Both Coles and Woolworths numbers, analysts said, underscored the difficult environment that the retail industry is currently dealing with, where consumers battle the economic uncertainties by redefining their spending habits.

Economists have been blaming the declines battering the share markets and the property industries lately as main concerns by Australians, who by spending less in the past few quarters have left many retailers struggling to survive.