Card Spending Data Shows Big Boost For Retailers

The latest electronic card spending data from Stats NZ comes as a much-needed boost for retailers heading into uncertain economic times, says Retail NZ Chief Executive Carolyn Young.

"Actual electronic card transactions for February were up 2.4% year-on-year across core retail as a whole, a further improvement to the 1.1% rise seen last month. With almost all sectors experiencing a rise in spending, this will be seen as a big win for retail, after going through several months of ups and downs last year,” Ms Young says.

“While durables saw a slight decline, down 0.1%, consumables, hospitality and apparel all had a decent boost in spend, which is exactly what the retail sector needs after a bumpy end to 2025. The 2.1% increase for apparel will be particularly encouraging to those retailers, with that sector experiencing a consistent downward trend in card spending right throughout 2025,” Ms Young says.

However, she says while the rises for consumables (3.1%) and hospitality (3.8%) were at or above the current rate of inflation, the overall 2.4% increase for actual core retail transactions is still slightly behind that 3.1% inflation figure.

“That should not take away from the good news behind this data, but it does illustrate that there is still further improvement needed before retailers can be confident the caution shoppers have been showing in their spending is, in fact, easing,” Ms Young says.

“The conflict in Iran will also be making retailers nervous, with the steep rises in fuel likely to directly impact the amount of discretionary spending households can afford. Adding to those nerves will be another increase in the amount of credit card transactions, with a massive 71 percent of spending on now credit, compared with 29 percent on debit cards.

“So while today’s figures will put a smile on faces, retailers will remain cautious about what might be in store for them over the next few months," Ms Young says.

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