Wet weather dampens pre-Christmas sales

Wednesday 22nd December 2010

Wet weather during the last weekend before Christmas put a dampener on spending, according to Paymark, which processes more than 75% of electronic transactions in New Zealand.

The value of sales last weekend was down 0.8% when compared to the same time last year.

In the first 21 days of December New Zealanders spent more than $3 billion, up 3.8% on the same time last year. But this is down from the 4.6% growth achieved from the year before in October and November.

In terms of volume, 57.72 million transactions were processed through Paymark's network between December 1 and December 21, which is up 3.4% from last year.

People appear to be putting less on their credit cards.

In the first 21 days of December shopping Eftpos spending is up 5.3% and credit card spending is up 2%.

Small toy shop sales are up 12% while sales at the large, general retail stores are up 3.5%. Book shops experienced 5% growth.

Music shops have experienced a 20.1% fall in sales, garden centres are down 5.1% and camera and photography shops are down 4.8%.

NZPA

Comments from our readers

No comments yet