Consumer spending on ‘traditional pre-Christmas uptick’ at $2.65b this month

Data from Worldline showed spending lifted 2.9 per cent in the first three weeks December compared to last year.

Consumer spending lifted in the third week of December, with retail spending coming in at $2.65 billion for the first three weeks of this month.

Data from payment provider Worldline showed consumer spending through all core retailers excluding hospitality reached $2.653b in its payments network during the first 21 days of December, up 2.9 per cent on the same period last year and 17.7 per cent on 2019.

Worldline chief sales officer Bruce Proffit said December 15-21 repeated the pattern of the previous week with spending data making its traditional uptick in the approach to Christmas Day.

“Both of these indicators will be welcome news for Kiwi retail merchants who will be looking forward to a boost to sales at the end of what’s been a challenging year,” Proffit said.

He said this year’s daily spending follows a similar pattern to trends that emerged in 2017, when Christmas was last on a Monday.

“This suggests Friday and Saturday [December 22 and 23] will be the busiest shopping days of the year, although Sunday should also be busy thanks to the usual last-minute shoppers,” Proffit said.

This week, the Herald reported retailers were hopeful for a rush in last-minute spending before Christmas to make up for a subdued 2023, but Kiwi retailer Mighty Ape noticed a drop in average order value and an uptick in discount purchases.

Worldline found retail sectors with annual growth included recreational goods (up 1.7 per cent on last year) and chemists (up 5.2 per cent).

But spending on clothing and footwear dropped 8.2 per cent - and the hardware and furniture spend slumped 0.6 per cent on last year.

Worldline data showed spending in Auckland and Northland reached almost $1 billion in the first three weeks of this month. Photo / Alex Burton

For food and liquor retailers, the first three weeks of the month had a 7.1 per cent lift on last year.

Whanganui showed the strongest jump in regional spending across core retailers, 10.5 per cent higher in the first 21 days of December on last year, followed by Otago (up 6.9 per cent).

Spending remained subdued in Southland and Taranaki, where it was down 3.4 per cent and 0.5 per cent respectively on last year.

First Retail managing director Chris Wilkinson told the Herald this week that foot traffic in regional New Zealand was lower than Auckland and Wellington, which had the highest growth in footfall this month.

However, Worldline data showed Auckland/Northland and Wellington experienced a 1.7 per cent and 3.7 per cent spending rise on last year. But the total spend in these regions was higher than across the regions, coming to $993.5 million in Auckland and Northland and $232m in Wellington across core retailers.

Alka Prasad is an Auckland-based business reporter covering small business and retail.