Retailers begin year with healthy sales increases

The new year brought a positive start for Wairarapa retailers with spending in January up 5.6 per cent on last year's figures.

Paymark figures released for the region showed January spending for this year was $37.6 million compared with a spend of $35.6 million in 2012.

Wairarapa enjoyed the third biggest growth regionally, after Canterbury which was up 8 per cent, and Waikato up 7.6 per cent.

Nationally, the total spend for January saw an increase of $191 million, a growth of 5.1 per cent.

Paymark CEO Simon Tong said it was an encouraging start to the year after modest spending in December.

"We're pleased that the spending momentum that was evident in the last quarter has extended beyond the busy shopping season. The value of spending through the Paymark network increased by a seasonally adjusted 0.6 per cent from December to January, the fourth consecutive monthly gain," Mr Tong said.

Paymark posted significant growth in plumbing outlets, up 17.8 per cent, and hardware and home decorating stores, 11.6 per cent, gardening stores, 7.6 per cent and wholesale building suppliers, 7 per cent, on the same time last year. Nationwide, during January, the volume of card transactions was also 6.3 per cent higher than a year ago, with credit card value, 6.4 per cent, increasing faster than debit card value, 6.2 per cent.