Christmas Shoppers Spend $1.2 Billion

Christmas Shoppers Spend $1.2 Billion In First Two Weeks Of December

Christmas has come earlier this year for retailers with Christmas shoppers spending $1.24 billion through the Paymark electronic payments system in the first two weeks of December.

This result is up 10% on the $1.11 billion spent by consumers during the same period last year.

The information is revealed in Paymark Pulse, the report reflecting retail consumer spending levels for the weeks Monday 2 December to Sunday 15 December.

Of the total money spent over the period Credit Card spending made up 30%, about the same as last year, although debit still makes up the majority of transactions.

People are spending more as Christmas gets closer. The biggest days so far were Friday 13 and Saturday 14 December, with Friday shoppers spending $105.9 million throughout New Zealand.

“While we know that New Zealanders are increasingly using and relying on electronic methods of payment our statistics show that shoppers appear to be spending more per item as well as buying more things. Transaction numbers are up 10% on last year and shoppers spent 12% more this year than last year over same two week period,” says Darryl Roots, Paymark spokesperson.

“The Christmas period is the busiest time of the year for retailers, so the Paymark Team are working around the clock to ensure glitch free processing takes place.

“Shoppers spending increased significantly on the West Coast of the South Island, in the first week of December showing a 24% increase on last year and this could be because of Westland Anniversary weekend as well as the general upswing in pre Christmas spending,” he says.

Other significant spending increases from last year in the first week of December were recorded in Auckland (+15%), Bay of Plenty (+13%), Palmerston North (+16%), Nelson (+17%), Otago (+18%) and Southland (+15%).

Significant spending increases from last year in the second week of December were recorded in Hawkes Bay (+11%), Wairarapa (+14%), Marlborough (+13%) and Otago (+13%).

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