Christmas Shopping Hits Peak Levels
Record number of transactions as momentum builds
A surge in electronic transactions points to a promising lead up to Christmas, according to electronic transaction
network provider Paymark EFTPOS.
Usage on the Paymark EFTPOS network reached the highest level this year at 12:13pm on Thursday with 83.6 transactions
per second. Total transactions on Thursday were just under the total for Christmas Eve in 2004, at 2.86 million, with
277,500 in the peak hour. There have been more than 2 million transactions per day on each of the working days this
week.
Darryl Roots, Paymark spokesperson, says the figures are a good sign for businesses and suggest a final shopping rush on
Friday and Christmas Eve.
“There appears to be more momentum leading into Christmas this year when compared to previous years. Factors like
Christmas falling on a Sunday and peoples’ increased use of debit and credit cards contribute to the increase, but all
the same the signs are positive for businesses. Given levels throughout this week we could possibly top three million
transactions on Christmas Eve.”
John Albertson, Chief Executive of the New Zealand Retailers Association, agrees.
“As we anticipated New Zealanders seem to be leaving their Christmas shopping right up until the last minute. This
latest information is very heartening and with the inclusion of the extra Saturday in the lead up to Christmas Day we
are expecting a strong finish to the season.”
Daily Transaction Volumes
Sat 17 2,401,797
Sun 18 1,781,148
Mon 19 2,034,848
Tue 20 2,347,191
Wed 21 2,615,575
Thurs 22 2,861,028
The Paymark EFTPOS network accounts for around 80% of all electronic transactions in New Zealand.
Ends.