Retail spending slows during December

Paymark head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston Photo/ supplied

Retail spending slowed during December after strong sales in the early part of the month failed to translate into increased spending across the entire Christmas shopping period.

The figures are contained in a report by Paymark, which processes 75 per cent of electronic transactions in New Zealand.

Nationally, the number of card transactions for the month was 3.9 per cent higher than the same month in 2009, and was ahead of the 2.8 per cent growth rate averaged across the first 10 months of the year - but was down on transactions processed during November.

Paymark Head of Sales and Marketing, Paul Whiston said the figures reflected "modest, but improving growth" across the retail sector.

When the two largest sectors - petrol and supermarkets - were taken out spending on discretionary items rose by 2.7 per cent year-on-year.

"Earlier in the year this measure of spending was only rising at a rate of 0.8 per cent per annum," Whiston said.

Meanwhile Kiwis spent more on takeaways (up 24 per cent), general food/liquor (up 7 per cent) and at restaurants/cafes (up 7 per cent) in line with the festive season.

Regions that showed the strong growth in retail spending during December included South Canterbury, Gisborne (both up 6 per cent) and Waikato, up 5 per cent.

The West Coast was hit the hardest with spending there falling 2 per cent.

Debit card usage for a month was up 5.9 per cent while credit card usage fell 0.8 per cent.

Whiston said people remained cautious about spending and were making smaller purchases, "using only money that they have rather than getting into more debt".

- Susie Nordqvist