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Boxing Day Spend Down Slightly On Last Year
AUCKLAND, 27 December 2023 – Consumer spending through Core Retail merchants across New Zealand for Boxing Day was slightly below last year, but Food & Liquor services saw a boost.
Consumer spending processed through all Core Retail merchants (excluding Hospitality) in Worldline NZ’s payments network on 26 December 2023 reached $98.3m, which is down -0.6% on Boxing Day 2022 and up +2.4% on 2019. However, spending at Food & Liquor services outlets using Worldline’s network – including cafés, takeaways, bars, etc – was up +14.1% on last year, to $14.6m.
The peak
transaction minute on Boxing Day was at 12:34pm when 6,074
payments were processed through Worldline NZ’s network –
a busy minute, but much lower (-44%) than last Friday (22
December) which was officially the busiest shopping day of
the year.
Worldline NZ’s Chief of Sales, Bruce
Proffit, says while the drop in spending this Boxing Day
would be disappointing for retailers, it is line with the
overall trends seen over the past six months.
Overall, annual regional spending growth for Boxing Day was highest in Otago (+9.4%) and Wairarapa (+8.5%), while the largest percentage decline was in Wellington (-10.8%).
| WORLDLINE All Cards underlying* spending for CORE RETAIL less HOSPITALITY merchants for 26th Dec 2023 | |||
| Value | Underlying* | Underlying* | |
| Region | transactions $millions | Annual % change on 2022 | Annual % change on 2019 |
| Auckland/Northland | 39.9 | -0.6% | 1.6% |
| Waikato | 8.5 | 2.1% | 13.3% |
| BOP | 6.6 | -6.4% | -7.5% |
| Gisborne | 0.7 | -2.9% | 48.1% |
| Taranaki | 2.0 | -3.8% | 11.6% |
| Hawke's Bay | 2.9 | -3.5% | -6.6% |
| Whanganui | 1.1 | 3.1% | 15.1% |
| Palmerston North | 2.8 | 1.8% | 8.2% |
| Wairarapa | 0.8 | 8.5% | -2.9% |
| Wellington | 7.4 | -10.8% | -12.4% |
| Nelson | 2.1 | 7.2% | 8.2% |
| Marlborough | 1.3 | 0.3% | 0.7% |
| West Coast | 0.6 | 3.7% | 9.7% |
| Canterbury | 12.2 | 1.0% | 8.7% |
| South Canterbury | 1.5 | -1.6% | 5.4% |
| Otago | 6.0 | 9.4% | 5.2% |
| Southland | 1.9 | 0.6% | 1.9% |
| New Zealand | 98.3 | -0.6% | 2.4% |
Figure 1: All Cards NZ annual underlying* spending growth through Worldline on Boxing Day for regional core retail excluding hospitality merchants (* Underlying excludes large clients moving to or from Worldline)
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