KEY POINTS:
Shoppers such as Ronan Cuthbert are benefiting from a tough year in the retail trade that is seeing more pre-Christmas sales than ever before.
Mr Cuthbert yesterday saved 30 per cent on a pair of Arnette sunglasses. Instead of paying $174.90, he scored the glasses for $122.43 at the Sunglass Hut on Queen St.
Anand Mitha, who manages three Sunglass Hut stores in the central city, said sales were down 4 per cent this year. It was the quietest Christmas he could remember in seven years. The stores began discounts of up to 50 per cent on Friday.
It's the same across the country. Sales of 20 per cent, 40 per cent and 50 per cent on everything from DVDs to clothing. Some stores hold sales year-round as a marketing tool to get customers through the door. Others, like the Sunglass Hut, have brought forward Boxing Day sales to make up for a tough year.
The Retailers' Association has noticed a slowdown in the growth of retail sales over the past year. Instead of the dizzy heights of up to 10 per cent growth in the past decade, this year growth was a more modest 5 per cent.
Paymark, which monitors three-quarters of New Zealand's electronic financial transactions, has picked up a similar trend.
In the the past week, transactions were expected to be 5-7 per cent greater than the same period last year. On Saturday, the number of transactions broke through the 100-per-second mark between noon and 1pm.
Newmarket Business Association chief executive Cameron Brewer said the increase in pre-Christmas and Boxing Day sales was becoming more of a phenomenon.
He said a number of factors contributed to what had been a patchy year. Higher mortgage rates and increases in petrol, electricity and rates had squeezed the discretionary dollar.
In Auckland, there was greater competition with the opening of megamalls at Sylvia Park and Albany.
"I think consumer confidence is waning somewhat. It has been tough year and Christmas has been slow to get going ... but we had a really good day yesterday," Mr Brewer said.
"Retailers are having to work around a slowing consumer appetite and make Christmas as appetising as they can. That is why we are seeing sales."
Heart of the City chief executive Alex Swney said many retailers had had it tough this year with the Queen St renovations.
With a heavy fashion component in the central city, retailers used Christmas sales to get rid of summer stock.
"If you haven't got rid of your stock by Christmas those costs start to eat away at the bottom line pretty quickly."
Mr Swney said the pattern of pre-Christmas sales had become entrenched in the United States and was becoming more entrenched in New Zealand.
