Retail spending charged to electronic cards rose 1.1 per cent last month, seasonally adjusted, the largest monthly increase since August last year.

Michael Hill International has become the latest NZX-listed retailer to flag difficult trading conditions in Australia.

The Warehouse has expanded its online presence through its fifth acquisition in nine months.

British American Tobacco Holdings New Zealand's profit was down almost 5 per cent in 2012.

The late Kiwi bushman Barry Crump might be turning in his grave. Or perhaps he'd be jealous there is now a range of Swanndri he could wear to dinner.

The Warehouse is about to embark on a radical new expansion strategy using television.

Public perceptions of how competitive the retail electricity sector is have improved, though to less-than-emphatic levels.

Australian consumers are spending again, though not as much of their income as they did before the global crisis five years ago.

When you're selling a product that's hotter than heroin, odds are there's going to be a few issues to deal with, writes Liam Dann.

Retail spending charged to electronic cards rose 0.8 per cent last month - the fastest pace since August last year.

The Warehouse boss Mark Powell is playing down the significance of an Australian company's aborted investment in Torpedo7.

Acquisitions have radically transformed The Warehouse Group in the past six months, but there is no danger of the country's largest listed retailer losing focus.

Changes are being made at the Queen Street Markets in the old MidCity Cinemas complex on Auckland's Golden Mile.

Staff at women's clothing retailer Suzanne Grae are blaming the fashion brand's failure to gain traction in New Zealand on insufficient marketing and poorly performing stores in the big cities.

A group of New Zealand's best winemakers will join forces in Germany next month to showcase Kiwi wine brands at a major international wine fair.

A range of meat products sold in New Zealand have tested negative for horsemeat, DNA tests show - but the content of some products would raise eyebrows.

Shoppers are ready to put up with bad service and travel distances to cash in on loyalty schemes, according to a survey.

The co-founder and chief executive of daily deal website GrabOne is planning to take a well-earned rest after he leaves the company next month.

It's still establishing itself at home but The Shopping Channel has already struck a deal to move into Australia, says boss Alistair Duff.

The undeniable pleasure of shopping will ensure central-city shops' survival, writes Bob Jones. But smaller towns are doomed.

Retail sales charged to electronic cards rose 0.3 per cent last month, adjusted for seasonal effects, continuing a trend of slow but steady increases in consumer spending.

It might be grown on old opium farms but $60-a-cup Black Ivory is hardly the most unexpected coffee discovery in the shadow of Asia's golden triangle.

Hundreds of thousands of bargain hunters are expected to make the most of the Boxing Day sales.

New Zealanders spent 2.6 per cent more in the week leading up to Christmas this year than they did a year ago, due mainly to a resurgent Canterbury region.

Shopkeepers are bracing themselves as last-minute Christmas shoppers head to the stores on one of the biggest shopping days of the year.

Consumer confidence has lifted to its highest level for more than a year, the Westpac McDermott Miller survey has found.

A slowdown from the first half of the year is expected when economic growth figures for the September quarter come out on Thursday.