Christmas figures tell conflicting sales story

The jury is still out over how successful the key Christmas/New Year period was for retailers, with mixed messages emerging from two consumer spending reports released yesterday.

Eftpos firm Paymark said holiday period retail sales were strong despite poor weather but the BNZ said Christmas spending was "not really that strong".

Paymark, which says its network accounts for 80 per cent of New Zealand's electronic transactions, said consumers spent $3.2 billion in December, up 9.66 per cent on the same month last year.

Paymark also said consumers spent over $170 million on Christmas Eve alone and more than $190 million in the Boxing Day sales period from December 26-28 - up 4.88 per cent on the same period last year.

The spending continued through into New Year sales with $109 million spent on January 1-2.

"People seem to be planning more to take advantage of the annual post-Christmas and New Year sales," said Paymark's Darryl Roots.

However, the BNZ's monthly report based on its Eftpos transactions found that in spite of high consumer confidence and the tight labour market, there was evidence of a slowing in retail spending growth in November and December.

The BNZ said December spending by its debit and credit card holders rose by 26.1 per cent from November.

"On average since 2001, December spending has risen 27.5 per cent from November.

"This year's result is slightly weaker than normal and follows November's below average growth of 2.2 per cent versus 3 per cent average."

BNZ chief economist Tony Alexander estimated Statistics New Zealand's seasonally adjusted December retail sales figures would show a 0.5 per cent decline from the previous month.

- NZPA