Boxing Day sales $17m bonanza for local retailers

After a month of consistent growth, retailers have enjoyed a final Christmas bonus with the value of Boxing Day transactions around the country up 6.9 per cent year-on-year.

Just under $106 million was spent across the country as Kiwis made their way to the shops on what is traditionally the most discounted day of the shopping calendar. The latest Paymark figures show transactions made in Wairarapa were up 4.6 per cent on last year's Boxing Day sales of $16.4 million, with $17.2 million of transactions made.

Spending was up 2.7 per cent on last year's $800,000 at $900,000.

Paymark head of sales and marketing Paul Whiston says though Boxing Day was a good day in terms of spending growth, December as a whole has been a good month for Kiwi retailers, with steady growth across most sectors and regions.

He said the growth may have been assisted by the value of big sales and heavy discounts across longer periods of time than we've seen in previous years.

"Every year you're going to get a group of people who always come out in force for the Boxing Day sales and this year they certainly have. The growth is not as high as we saw a few years back, which suggests perhaps that we've found a level of stability in the wider Christmas shopping period.

"Growth of 6.9 per cent across the country is a good positive end to the year for retailers, however."

Masterton stores such as Milady Fashion and Lingerie, Trev's Sports and Paper Plus saw a busy start to the morning with demand slowing down as the day came to a close.

"People were waiting outside the store before we opened and the shop was full for most of the day," Paper Plus owner Russell Carthew said. "It's always busy in the week between Boxing Day and New Year's Day, as there are a lot of people on holiday."