KEY POINTS:
Shoppers with cash to spare stand to gain from a growing retail downturn, as stores discount in droves to lure customers back.
Consumers have closed their wallets this year because increased living costs are squeezing household budgets.
Retailers have responded by starting their annual winter sales early - and with bargains galore.
A Weekend Herald survey found heavy discounting, with savings of up to $1100 for big-ticket items and 50 per cent reductions common in clothing stores.
The offers include $500 off a Sanyo 42-inch LCD TV which would usually sell for $1999 at The Warehouse, an Acer notebook selling for $599 at Bond and Bond, and a Smeg stainless steel range for $2449 - a drop of $1100 - at Kitchen'Things.
Redpaths is selling an Adorlee queen bed for $499, and rival Freedom is lopping $500 off an Inca queen bed that sells for $1399. Kathmandu is taking 50 per cent off its men's and women's down jackets, and Moochi wants $140 for an alpaca cardigan that was $280.
The price-slashing is driven by some stark statistics. The Westpac McDermott Miller consumer confidence index is at its weakest level since 1991, and April figures from Statistics NZ show core retail sales - which excludes vehicle-related industries - were down 0.5 per cent.
The total retail sales trend, which has been rising since June 1998 at an average rate of 0.5 per cent a month, flattened to an average of 0.1 per cent between February and April this year.
The North Island has felt the fall-off faster; its sales are down an average of 0.2 per cent a month since February.
Business may be feeling the pinch, but the big sell-off is a bonus for those hit hard in the pocket by high fuel and food prices.
Bargain hunter Angela Massey said there had rarely been a better time to go shopping.
"Why pay $100 for something when you can get it for $50?" said the 49-year-old administrator from the North Shore.
"I've bought a lot of clothes for my grandchildren. They're a very good price so I buy for next year."
Mrs Massey said fewer people than usual seemed to be out grabbing bargains, which made it a good time to get a good deal.
"Don't jump at the first thing you see," she said. "A lot of times, sales start off at 30 per cent off, then two weeks later it's down to 50 per cent."
Shoe store Andrea Biani's managing director, John Perillo, said he had not had such a difficult year since he started working in retail 20 years ago.
"Traffic is down, and the feedback from management is that consumers seem reluctant to spend as freely as they used to."
It has also become very competitive. Andrea Biani was forced to start its winter sales earlier than it would have liked because surrounding stores brought theirs forward.
Retailers Association chief executive John Albertson said the market was flat.
"For any consumer who has got some money, there's probably never been a better time to buy."
Retail analyst Tim Morris, of Coriolis Research, said the rash of sales was a normal reaction to the early phase of a slump.
"It's the belief that somehow the reason people aren't buying is because the price isn't cheap enough, and if we can only get the price cheap enough then they will buy."
Businesses most reliant on discretionary spending are feeling the pain worst.
Sales of appliances - the worst affected sector - were down 15 per cent in March from the same period last year.
Noel Leeming Group, which operates the Bond and Bond and Noel Leeming stores, said the squeeze was being felt in every category, from widescreen TVs to mobile phones.
- Jacqueline Smith
