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Electrical and electronics power up retail sales



Electrical and electronics power up retail sales

13 May 2016

Retail spending has continued to rise in the first quarter of 2016, led by electrical and electronic goods sales, Statistics New Zealand said today.

After adjusting for seasonal effects, the volume of total retail trade sales rose 0.8 percent in the March 2016 quarter. This increase follows a 1.1 percent rise in the December 2015 quarter.

“Consumers continued to spend-up on electrical and electronic goods this quarter," business indicators senior manager Neil Kelly said. "There has been sustained growth in this industry for some time, with the trend rising over the past eight years," Mr Kelly added.

Eleven of the 15 industries had higher sales volumes in the latest quarter, with the largest increases in:

• electrical and electronic goods retailing – up 3.8 percent

• non-store and commission-based retailing – up 10 percent

• food and beverage services – up 1.3 percent.

'Non-store retailing' mainly refers to online-only shopping businesses in New Zealand – those operating without a shop front or physical shop presence.

Retail sales values up

When the effect of price changes is included, the seasonally adjusted value of total retail sales rose 0.6 percent ($125 million) for the March 2016 quarter. In the December 2015 quarter the rise was 1.1 percent ($225 million).

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Twelve of the 15 retail industries had higher sales in the latest quarter. However, there was a large fall in fuel retailing, down 4.9 percent ($94 million), which was price driven.

In actual terms, the value of total retail sales was $20.2 billion in the March 2016 quarter, up 4.7 percent ($903 million) from the March 2015 quarter.

For more information about these statistics:


• Visit Retail Trade Survey: March 2016 quarter

ends

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