Shoppers keep tills ringing

Juliet Bilkey (L) and Fie Andersen check the shops in Queen St. Photo / Janna Dixon

Shoppers ignored sunny skies yesterday to spend up large in the Boxing Day sales.

Bargain-hunters were queueing outside malls before they opened and those shopping from home were caught in the rush, with complaints The Warehouse website crashed from too much traffic.

By 4.30pm, shoppers had spent $77 million in electronic transactions alone, with 77 transactions a second between noon and 1pm, Paymark chief executive Simon Tong said.

There were reports of dedicated shoppers camping outside Harvey Norman in Ashburton from 4am, but staff said it was more a case of queues from 7.30am.

Thomas Trower from Dick Smiths Electronic Powerhouse at Sylvia Park said the day had been extremely busy - topping the huge number of transactions on Christmas Eve.

"We're zooming," said Trower. "We've had more than 1000 customers buying products and the sales figures are looking good."

Farmers chief executive Rob McDermott said it had been a fabulous day for the company's 58 stores.

"We're trading at about the same level as last year, but there's been a shift in the products people are buying," said McDermott. Recession-savvy shoppers were going for discounted essential items like clothing and homewares over luxury goods, he said.

McDermott said rural and coastal stores were busier than those in the city, reflecting the fact that most people were already on holiday because Christmas Day fell on a Friday.

Manager of Auckland's Sylvia Park mall Jonathan Douglas said about 70,000 people would have visited the centre's 200-plus stores by close of business yesterday.

All 4000 carparks were full and extra security staff, cleaners and customer service staff were working.

Westfield's 11 nationwide centres all had a hectic day, said spokeswoman Deb McGhie. It was too soon to know the final sales figures, but Boxing Day was often the biggest trading day for the malls.

Cameron Brewer of the Newmarket Business Association said previous years had been busier.

On Christmas Eve, shoppers spent $226 million in electronic transactions, $10m more than the $216m spent last year.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY