Data shows shoppers cautious before Christmas

Monday 14th February 2011

New data confirms indications that shoppers were cautious in the run up to Christmas.

Statistics New Zealand (SNZ) said that in the December quarter the volume of retail sales fell a seasonally adjusted 0.4%, while value edged down 0.1%.

The largest volume decline was in vehicle and parts retailing, which is not seasonally adjusted, with a fall of 8.2%, after the sector had recorded the largest sales volume increase in the March, June and September quarters.

Fuel sales volume, also not seasonally adjusted, rose 6.4% in the latest quarter, and supermarket and grocery stores gained 1.9%.

Core retail volumes, which exclude vehicle-related industries, edged up less than a seasonally adjusted 0.1%, while core retail value was down 0.1%.

It was the first quarterly fall for both core retail and total retail values since the March 2009 quarter, SNZ said.

Vehicle and parts retail value fell 8.2% for the December quarter from the previous three months, while the furniture, floor, houseware, and textiles group fell 9.7%, and hardware, building and garden supplies were down 2.9%.

Fuel retail values rose 10.4%, while supermarket and grocery store values were up 2.4%.

The volume of actual retail sales was 0.1% lower in the December quarter from a year earlier at $17.6 billion, while the value was up 1.5%.

For just the month of December seasonally adjusted total retail sales fell 1.1% from November, with core sales down 1.2%.

The hardware, building, and garden supplies group had a sales fall of 11.3% for the month, and supermarket and grocery store sales fell 2.9%, while pharmaceutical and other store-based retailing lifted 7%.

Vehicle and parts sales fell 3.8% in the December month, while fuel lifted 2.8%.

Goldman Sachs economist Philip Borkin said the data confirmed the Christmas shopping period was tough for retailers.

ANZ economist Mark Smith also noted it had not been a good Christmas shopping season, but said the flat core volumes figure was likely to downplay fears of a recession in the second half of 2010.

NZPA

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