Retail card spending bounces back

Retail card spending bounced back in August 2019, Stats NZ said today.

When adjusted for seasonal effects, retail card spending rose 1.1 percent in August 2019.

“Card spending in retail industries bounced back after a quiet period in the previous five months,” retail statistics manager Sue Chapman said.

“Most retail industries saw increased spending in August.”

Spending rose across five of the six retail industries when compared with July 2019. The largest increases were:
• durables, including hardware, furniture, and appliances, up $22 million (1.7 percent)
• consumables, including groceries and liquor, up $16 million (0.8 percent)
• hospitality, up $16 million (1.5 percent).

“Sales of clothes and shoes also picked up in August,” Ms Chapman said.

Spending in the apparel industry rose 4.5 percent ($13 million) after falling in July.

Core retail spending (excluding vehicle-related industries) rose 1.3 percent in August, after a 0.4 percent fall in July.

The total value of electronic card spending, including the two non-retail categories (services and non-retail), rose 1.3 percent in August, following a 0.2 percent fall in July 2019. The non-retail category includes travel, health, and wholesaling.

In actual terms, retail spending using electronic cards was $5.3 billion, up 2.8 percent ($147 million) from August 2018.

Values are only available at the national level and are not adjusted for price changes.

Ends

For more information about these statistics:
• Visit Electronic card transactions: August 2019
• See CSV files for download
• Open the attached files
Tables (Excel) electroniccardtransactionsaugust2019.xlsx

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