Shoppers get into the Christmas swing

Holiday shopping picked up momentum in the last few days before Christmas, meaning retailers could have a strong finish to the season.

For the first three weeks of December, consumers spent about $2.3 billion, about an 8 per cent increase from last year.

However, as of Thursday, the busiest shopping day of the year so far, sales had gained more momentum.

Paymark figures show that on Thursday, transaction levels hit 2.86 million, just shy of the number of transactions on Christmas Eve 2004.

However, yesterday was marred with the Eftpos network going down for two hours just before 1pm, blocking 500,000 transactions and causing shopper chaos. Paymark was certain the system would hold up today for an expected deluge of last-minute shopping.

John Albertson, chief executive of the New Zealand Retailers Association, said merchants had been heartened by the last-minute shopping rush. He expects shopping to be brisk right down to the final trading hours today.

"It will make the difference to have the extra Saturday. In the lead-up to Christmas Day, we are expecting a strong finish to the season," said Albertson. Last Christmas Eve was a working day, giving consumers less chance to shop.

Paymark spokesman Darryl Roots said there was more momentum leading into Christmas this year compared with previous years.

"Factors like Christmas falling on a Sunday and people's increased use of debit and credit cards contribute to the increase, but ... all signs are positive for businesses," he said.

However, the brisk sales are unlikely to bring holiday cheer to Reserve Bank Governor Alan Bollard, who has been continually warning Kiwis to cut their spendthrift ways.

Last year, spending amounted to $3.2 billion in December. Of this, $170 million was spent on Christmas Eve and $190 million in Boxing Day sales.