Tauranga residents splashed out on pets ahead of Christmas in one of retail's most lucrative months since the recession.
Bay of Plenty shoppers spent more than $336 million in December, up 7.5 per cent on the same period last year, new Paymark figures show.
The December surge capped the fastest year of spending growth since the recession, with $49.3 billion in transactions made nationally during 2013, up 0.2 per cent on the previous year.
Paymark head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston said Christmas Eve and Boxing Day saw "record-smashing" spending during December, with Kiwis spending close to $5.1 billion.
Nationally, December spending increased 1.7 per cent from November and 7.5 per cent since December 2012.