Black Friday sales down 6.9 per cent

Shoppers appear to be heeding Reserve Bank governor Adrian Orr’s call to rein in spending, with last week’s Black Friday sales down 6.9 per cent on last year.

Figures from payment network Worldline New Zealand show Kiwis spent $67 million on the day, in what could be a cautionary note for retailers ahead of the busy Christmas shopping period.

Black Friday is held on the Friday after the American Thanksgiving holiday, with New Zealand retailers keen to capitalise on the event.

In the seven days ended November 26, shoppers spent $350m. That was down 9.5 per cent on last year but up 1.5 per cent on Black Friday in 2019 before the Covid pandemic hit.

Furniture, floor coverings, houseware and textile goods and hardware had the biggest fall in spending, down 20 per cent over the week.

Clothing, footwear and personal accessory retailers saw spending rise 5 per cent compared to last year’s Black Friday week.

Auckland and Northland had the biggest fall, down 12 per cent to $145.1m compared to last year and down 3 per cent on 2019.

This time last year, Auckland was in lockdown.

In contrast, spending in Southland was up 6 per cent to $7.4m compared to last year and up 5 per cent on 2019. Southland was the only region to see a rise in spending.

Spending in Canterbury was down 9 per cent to $46.8m and Wellington was down 10 per cent to $37.4m

Worldline said it was not clear what the fall in spending would mean for the Christmas spending season.

“But it would be reasonable to infer, given rising consumer prices, falling house prices, rising interest rates and generally low consumer confidence, that fewer merchants will be setting Christmas spending records this year.”

Dimocks is one of the stores in town doing a Black Friday sale. Photo / Bevan Conley.

Spending typically surges in the days before Christmas Day with another, lesser surge on Boxing Day.

“Black Friday spending in recent years has been below the immediate pre-Christmas surge but above that of Boxing Day.”

The data excluded food, liquor and hospitality merchants.